[00:00:05]
DID I SAY YOUR NAME? WRONG RAIN.
SO I CALLED THIS MADE UP A WHOLE NEW NAME FOR YOU, RIGHT.
JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GOOD TO GO.
[CALL TO ORDER]
WITH THAT, THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL TO ORDER THE REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.THE THIRD I'M THE CHAIR IS CALLING US TO ORDER HERE AND WE'LL BEGIN WITH A ROLL CALL.
EVERYONE HAS A COPY OF THE DRAFT MINUTES IN FRONT OF THEM.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND USE THAT TO DICTATE THE ORDER.
UH, AND WE'LL DO THAT GOING FORWARD BEGINNING WITH COMMISSIONER GUIRO, UH, COMMISSIONER CAIRO REPRESENTING MAYOR STEVE ADLER.
HELLO AGAIN, THIS IS NEHEMIAH PITS, THE THIRD REPRESENTING COUNCIL MEMBER, NATASHA HARPER, MADISON AND DISTRICT ONE.
STEVEN APODACA REPRESENTING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES DISTRICT TWO, MALCOLM YATES, DISTRICT THREE, REPRESENTING COUNCIL MEMBER RENTER RE DAVE FLOYD DISTRICT FIVE REPRESENTING COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN.
UH, WE HAVE COMMISSIONER AND IF YOU COULD GO AND CHECK IN FOR US.
COMMISSIONER ISLAND REPRESENTING DISTRICT SEVEN, LESLIE POOL.
I'M NICOLE THOMPSON AND REPRESENTING COUNCIL MEMBER ON KATHY TOVA WITH DISTRICT NINE.
IT'S THE SUMMER DASGUPTA REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10 APPOINTEE FIVE COUNCIL MEMBER, ALISON ALTER.
THEN WE ARE CALLED TO ORDER WITH OUR FORUM PRESENT.
OUR FIRST ORDER IS TO ACKNOWLEDGE ANY CITIZEN COMMUNICATION AND THERE'S NO ONE PRESENT AND NO ONE HAS SIGNED UP ONLINE.
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – January 12, 2022]
SO WE'LL PROCEED TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 12TH, 2022 MEETING, WHICH YOU ALL HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU AND FOR OUR COMMISSIONERS YOU HAVE IN YOUR INBOX AS WELL.ONLINE, I WOULD, UH, LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE ONE SMALL CHANGE, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE NOTES UNDER OUR COMMISSION UPDATES SPECIFICALLY FOR THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP, UH, THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF A DESIRE FOR PURSUING, UH, PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AS PART OF THAT DISCUSSION AND COORDINATION WITH OUR RESEARCH FOR GATTON AND HOW THAT CAN HELP WITH INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO JUST THAT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT WE'RE ALSO DISCUSSING PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS AND HOW THAT MIGHT HELP TO HOW OUR GUIDING RESEARCH MIGHT HELP TO INFORM THAT DISCUSSION AROUND INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO I MADE A MOTION TO AMEND THE MINUTES.
I LOOK FOR A SECOND, UNLESS THERE'S ANY DISCUSSION.
UH, THERE'S BEEN A MOTION TO AMEND, UH, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA.
UH, NOW LOOK FOR, UH, A VOTE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS AMENDED, UNLESS THERE ARE ANY FUTURE CHANGES.
I WOULD DO IT FOR A VOTE ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANYONE OPPOSED? I'M SORRY, ONLINE, PLEASE.
I THINK I HEARD TWO EYES ONLINE.
IS THAT CORRECT? JUST WANT TO CONFIRM
[00:05:03]
THIS IS COMMISSIONER DESCRIPTOR.ANYONE OPPOSED? ANYONE ABSTAINING? OKAY.
SO WE HAVE ONE ABSTENTION FROM COMMISSIONER ISLAND.
NO ONE OPPOSED EIGHT IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
SO WITH THAT, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.
WE'LL GO AND PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA
[2.a. Presentation on Digital Access Research (Susan Millea and Dan Brown, Children’s Optimal Health)]
TO AGENDA.NUMBER TWO, STAFF AND COMMUNITY BRIEFINGS ARE FIRST IS JAN ITEM TWO, A A PRESENTATION ON DIGITAL ACCESS RESEARCH BY SUSAN MALAYA AND DAN BROWN WITH CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WE'VE GOT A SLIDE DECK BEING LOADED.
DAN, WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN? WE WERE TOLD IT, CITIES IT AT THE PRESENTATION.
WE, WE CAN SHARE, UH, OR YOU CAN SHARE OR, UH, YOUR SCREEN, WHICHEVER IS MORE CONVENIENT.
I THINK THAT QUESTION GOES TO YOU.
UH, I'M NOT SURE IF I HAVE THE FINAL VERSION OF YOUR PRESENTATION.
THE, THE GOOGLE DOC THAT WAS SHARED, IF YOU CAN ACCESS THE GOOGLE DOC.
UM, I T WE DO HAVE THE MOST CURRENT VERSION, SO WE'LL SHARE IT ON OUR END.
OH, BOB, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT.
I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING US AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME BEFORE YOU THIS EVENING AND PREVENT AND PRESENT, UM, OUR WORK I'M SUSAN MOLAY AND I AM THE INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH.
AND DAN I'LL LET YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
I AM THE DATA AND OPERATIONS MANAGER AT CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH.
AND JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH.
WE'RE A SMALL LOCAL NONPROFIT THAT HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON HELPING THE AUSTIN AREA, SHARON ANALYZE DATA ACROSS HEALTH EDUCATION, AND SOCIAL SERVICE SECTORS, AND THEN USING GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING, ESPECIALLY AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL, IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE HEALTH OF NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO I WANT HER TO START WITH THIS DEFINITION OF DIGITAL INCLUSION THAT COMES FROM THE TEXAS STATE LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES COMMISSION.
IT SAYS DIGITAL INCLUSION IS ACHIEVED THROUGH AFFORDABLE, ROBUST INTERNET SERVICES, DIGITAL LITERACY SKILLS, QUALITY, TECHNICAL SUPPORT, ACCESS TO HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESOURCES AND SERVICES THAT I'VE MEANT INCLUSION EFFORTS.
LIKE PLEASE, I ALSO WANTED TO, UM, EXPLAIN TO YOU WHO OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS WERE FOR OUR STUDY.
UM, THEY ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY KEY SOCIAL INFLUENCES OF HEALTH, SUCH AS NOT HAVING ADEQUATE INCOME, STABLE HOUSING AND FOOD SECURITY, BUT EDUCATION WELL-PAID JOBS, HEALTHCARE ACCESS, AND OR STRONG COMMUNITY SUPPORT OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS INCLUDE STUDENTS IN THEIR FAMILIES, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE OF COLOR NON-ENGLISH SPEAKERS, THOSE LIVING IN MORE RURAL AREAS, OLDER FOLKS, AND THOSE MEETING TELE-HEALTH ACCESS.
OUR GOALS FOR TODAY ARE TO DESCRIBE OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION PROJECT AND ITS FINDINGS DEMONSTRATE HOW TO ACCESS AND NAVIGATE THE WEBSITE, DEMONSTRATE OUR INTERACTIVE MAPPING TOOLS, INCLUDING A LIVE DEMO, IF THERE'S TIME, AND TO DISCUSS A CALL TO ACTION, TO ADVANCE DIGITAL EQUITY LOCALLY, NEXT SLIDE, OR CLICK THAT.
UM, SO AS YOU'RE READING THE INFORMATION ON OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION PROJECT, I JUST WANTED TO COVER A BIT OF INFORMATION ABOUT OUR METHODS.
UM, WE WERE INTENTIONALLY FOCUSED ON
[00:10:01]
THESE PRIORITY POPULATIONS.SO THIS WAS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO BE, TO DO A RANDOM SURVEY OF AUSTINITES.
OUR METHODS INCLUDED OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT WITH PEOPLE OF COLOR, LOWER INCOME FAMILIES.
NON-ENGLISH THE FIRST OLDER PEOPLE AND OR THEIR PROXIES.
WE ENGAGE BLOCK LEADERS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
WE CONTRACTED WITH MEASURE AUSTIN TO ADDRESS AUSTIN'S HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION AND RESULTING HEALTH INEQUITIES.
WE CONDUCTED ABOUT 20 CANNED FOREMAN INTERVIEWS, 10 FOCUS GROUPS, FOUR OF WHICH WERE DONE IN SPANISH.
AND WE COLLECTED OVER 400 SURVEYS FROM OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS.
WE ALSO INTEGRATED DATA THAT CAME FROM THAT WAS SHARED WITH US TO ENHANCE OUR LEARNING, UM, PARTICULARLY SURVEY DATA THAT WAS SHARED BY COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS, AS WELL AS AUSTIN VOICES FOR EDUCATION.
AND THERE WERE MANY PARTNERS IN OUR WORK, AND WE'VE CREATED A LIST OF OVER 75 ORGANIZATIONS IN THE AREA WHO ARE WORKING IN THIS DIGITAL EQUITY SPACE AMONG OUR KEY PARTNERS OF WHERE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, INCLUDING AUSTIN MAYNOR, ROUNDROCK, LOCKHART, AND OTHERS UNITED WAY FOR GREATER AUSTIN COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS, AUSTIN VOICES FOR EDUCATION AND YOUTH, OUR CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH BOARD MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS MEASURE AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY RESEARCH AND PLANNING.
SO WE WANT TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR SUPPORT IN THIS WORK.
SO NOW TAKE A LOOK AT HOW TO ACCESS THE DIGITAL, THE DIGITAL ACCESS WEB TOOL FROM OUR WEBSITE, WHICH IS C O H T X.ORG.
AND IF YOU SCROLL DOWN, UM, AND CLICK PLEASE, BUT AGAIN, YOU WILL BE INSTRUCTED TO THEN CLICK ON THAT PICTURE.
AND IF YOU'D GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, WHEN YOU DO THAT, YOU'RE TAKEN TO THE MAIN PAGE OF OUR DIGITAL ACCESS WORK.
UM, IF YOU LOOK ACROSS THE TOP OF THAT PAGE, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE'VE GOT KEY TOPIC AREAS IDENTIFIED.
AND IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE, PLEASE, BY CLICKING ON THE DOWNWARD ARROW ARROWS, UM, YOU WILL GET SUBTOPICS AND, UM, YEAH, THE ARROWHEAD GIVES YOU ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION ON THE SUB TOPICS, BUT PLEASE, IF YOU SCROLL DOWN ON THIS MAIN PAGE, YOU ALSO ARE GIVEN DIRECT ACCESS TO THE OTHER SUBSTANTIVE CONTENT AREAS.
SO YOU CAN ACCESS THEM EITHER ACROSS THE TOP OF THE PAGE WITH THESE DROPDOWN ARROWS OR FROM THE MAIN PAGE HERE.
UM, MOVING ON TO THE SECOND HEADER, OUR DEEP CONTENT IS REALLY HELD IN THIS SECOND AREA, ADDRESSING DIGITAL EQUITY AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH.
AND, UM, YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL TOPICS HERE.
EACH TOPIC IS A SEPARATE DATA STORY THAT IS FRAMED BY THE STATEMENTS FROM OUR PARTICIPANTS, OUR SURVEY FINDINGS, AND THE RESEARCH LITERATURE HERE.
YOU CAN SEE LINKS TO A FOCUS ON EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, OLDER ADULTS IN RURAL AREAS EACH AS A SEPARATE DATA STORY.
SO AFTER FOCUSING ON THE SEPARATE AREAS OF CONCERN, WE THEN TRIED TO SHOW THEIR OVERLAP IN A SINGLE COMMUNITY THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD STORY.
IN THIS STORY, WE SEE THE INTERPLAY OF SOCIAL FACTORS THAT IMPACT HEALTH OUTCOMES WITH A SPOTLIGHT ON THE HISTORY EXPERIENCE, ADVOCACY AND HOPE REFLECTED IN THE COLONY PARK STORY.
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD STORY IS PLACED IN CONTEXT BY THE WORK OF MEASURE AUSTIN, WE CONTRACTED WITH MEASURE TO PROVIDE A FOCUS GROUP OF COMMUNITY LEADERS OF COLOR RELATED TO HEALTH AND EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES FOR BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE IN THE AUSTIN AREA MEASURE ALSO DEVELOPED A TIMELINE OF THE HISTORY OF CHALLENGES IN HEALTH ACCESS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR.
FINALLY, WE'VE PROVIDED A SERIES OF INTERACTIVE MAPS THAT ENABLE USERS TO EXPLORE INFORMATION AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE A BIT MORE
[00:15:01]
LATER.I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE DO HAVE GUIDES FOR WORKING WITH THAT DATA EMBEDDED IN THE WEBSITE.
SO I WANT TO SPEND A MINUTE LOOKING AT THIS GRAPHIC.
OUR RESEARCH APPROACH IS GROUNDED IN UNDERSTANDING THE INTERPLAY OF THE COVID PANDEMIC, A SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH MODEL, THE IMPORTANCE OF DISPARITIES RELATED TO DIGITAL ACCESS AND EQUITY CONCERNS.
THIS GRAPHIC ORIGINATED IN TORONTO AND WAS BASED ON A STUDY OF THE DISPARATE EXPERIENCES OF PEOPLE EARLIER IN THE PANDEMIC.
AND IT WAS A RECOGNITION EARLY ON THAT THE COVID PANDEMIC HASN'T AFFECTED PEOPLE EQUALLY.
WE'VE SEEN SIMILAR THINGS HERE LOCALLY IN THE GRAPHIC, THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AFFECT, NOT JUST WHO GETS SICK, AND THOSE ARE REFLECTED IN PINK IN THIS DIAGRAM, BUT SOCIAL DETERMINANTS PROTECT EVERYONE IN THE COMMUNITY.
THE PANDEMIC IS EXACERBATING INEQUITIES, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE IN ALREADY UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES.
THESE FINDINGS ARE SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SEE LOCALLY, AND WE'VE ADAPTED THE MODEL TO INCLUDE THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL ACCESS.
WHAT WE HAVE FOUND IS THAT A LACK OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, AFFORDABLE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN THE SKILLS TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY HAVE FURTHER DISTANCED DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE FROM THE SERVICES AND CARE THEY NEED.
DIGITAL ACCESS IS STARTING TO BE CALLED A SUPER DETERMINANT OF HEALTH IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH LITERATURE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC CAN BEYOND DIGITAL ACCESS, MEDIATES ALL ACCESS ACROSS THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS.
AND I WANT TO CALL OUT, UM, THE FIVE COMPONENTS OF DIGITAL ACCESS THAT WE ARE REFERENCING HERE.
SO IT'S ACCESS TO DEVICES, CONNECTIVITY, AFFORDABILITY, THE SKILLS TO USE THESE TOOLS AS WELL AS SUSTAINABILITY.
BUT NOW WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF OUR FINDINGS AND I'M NOTING THAT THERE'S MUCH MORE DETAIL INCLUDED ONLINE.
OUR SURVEY APPROACH WAS INTENDED TO REACH THOSE MOST LIKELY TO BE STRUGGLING WITH DIGITAL ACCESS AND PANDEMIC IN THE PANDEMIC.
AND AGAIN, IT WAS AN INTENTIONAL, UH, POPULATION NOT INTENDED TO BE RANDOM.
WE HAD RESPONDENTS FROM, UM, PROBABLY ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT ZIP CODES, 15 TO 20 ACROSS THE AUSTIN METRO AREA.
AND I WANT TO POINT OUT OUR STUDY AREA WAS THE FIVE COUNTY AREA IN THIS CHART.
WE SEE THE 10 ZIP CODES WITH THE MOST NUMEROUS RESPONDENTS.
AND IF YOU CAN SEE THE ZIP CODES PRESENTED, UM, THESE ARE FAMILIAR TO PEOPLE, EXCUSE ME, WHO ARE PROVIDING SERVICES TO UNDER-RESOURCED COMMUNITIES LIKE PLEASE.
SO WE DID ASK ABOUT ETHNICITY, RACE AND ETHNICITY.
ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF OUR POPULATION IDENTIFIED AS HISPANIC OR LATIN X.
THE SECOND MOST FREQUENT CATEGORY INCLUDED THOSE OF TWO OR MORE RACES FOLLOWED BY BLACKS.
AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHITE AND THEN ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS.
BUT PLEASE WE ASKED ABOUT STRUGGLES TO MEET BASIC NEEDS DURING THE 2021 SCHOOL YEAR AND ROUGHLY 80% OF RESPONDENTS IDENTIFIED AS STRUGGLING TO MEET SOME BASIC NEEDS.
I WILL NOTE THAT THE LARGEST SEGMENT THERE WERE THOSE WHO IDENTIFIED THAT THEY DID NOT STRUGGLE TO MEET NEEDS, BUT WE ARE ROUGHLY 80% ARE IDENTIFYING A NEED IN SOME AREA.
SO WE DID ASK ABOUT INTERNET ACCESS WITH THIS QUESTION HAS A LACK OF GOOD INTERNET ACCESS OR DEVICES IN YOUR HOME CAUSED PROBLEMS OBTAINING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AND ROUGHLY 75% OF RESPONDENTS, UM, IDENTIFIED THAT A LACK OF GOOD INTERNET ACCESS IMPACTED EDUCATION, THE ABILITY TO WORK OR HEALTHCARE ACCESS, LIKE PLEASE BOOKS BACK BACK A FEW
[00:20:03]
AND AGAIN, THERE WE GO.MIGHT HAVE TO GO ONE MORE BACK.
I THINK WE'RE THERE AND I'LL JUST GO FROM HERE.
SO, UM, WE DID ASK ABOUT PRIORITY POPULATIONS AND DEVICES.
AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING FINDINGS HERE WAS THE SIGNIFICANT POPULATION THAT IDENTIFIED.
THEY HAVE NO INNER, NO DEVICES IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD, BUT PLEASE, UM, WE ALSO LOOKED AT THAT SAME QUESTION, NOT JUST BY THE NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS, BUT BY THE TYPES, BY THE NUMBER OF DEVICES.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE RESPONSE THIS WAY, WE SEE THAT OVER A THIRD OF, UM, PERSONS IDENTIFIED THAT THEY'RE USING SMARTPHONES, UH, CLICK, PLEASE.
AND THEN, UM, WE ALSO TOOK THE SAME QUESTION AND BROKE IT DOWN BY THE LANGUAGE OF THE SURVEY IN HERE, WE HAD A FINDING, UM, VERY SIGNIFICANT FINDING REGARDING, UH, HIGH, A DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE OF RESPONDENTS WHO ANSWERED IN SPANISH THAT THEY HAVE NO COMPUTER DEVICE IN THEIR HOME.
SO NEXT QUESTION WAS ABOUT CONNECTIVITY.
UM, CLEARLY THE VAST MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS BELIEVE THAT HIGH-SPEED INTERNET IS ESSENTIAL.
AND IF WE COMBINED ESSENTIAL WITH THOSE WHO FOUND IT IMPORTANT, BUT NOT ESSENTIAL, THAT COVERED ALMOST EVERYBODY WHO RESPONDED PLEASE, AND THEN UNDERSTANDING HOW PEOPLE ACCESS THE INTERNET.
UM, WE FOUND THAT THE MOST FREQUENT RESPONSE WAS VIA A CELL PHONE DATA PLAN, WHICH I THINK IS AN IMPORTANT FINDING FOR THIS POPULATION FOR OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS FOLLOWED SECONDLY, BY BROADBAND OR CABLE.
I ALSO WANT TO POINT FIND OUT THAT, UM, ONE OF OUR LEARNINGS IN THIS PROCESS WAS THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ASK SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS AND MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THEM.
SO SOME LEVEL OF DETAIL, THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO KNOW, UM, FOR ACTIONABILITY.
UM, WE WERE CHALLENGED BY BECAUSE PEOPLE SIMPLY DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION, SO WE HAD TO REVISE THEM.
AND THAT'S WHY SOME OF THIS INFORMATION GETS COLLAPSED HERE.
IF YOU WILL CLICK, PLEASE IMPORTANTLY, WE ASKED IF LOW-INCOME HIGH-SPEED INTERNET WERE AVAILABLE AT HOME, WHAT COULD YOU AFFORD TO PAY ON A MONTHLY BASIS? AND IF YOU'LL CLICK ONE MORE TIME, UH, WE FOUND THOSE RESPONSES INFORMATIVE AND BASICALLY THAT IF MONTHLY COSTS COULD BE KEPT AT, OR BELOW $30 A MONTH, NEARLY TWO THIRDS OF OUR TARGET POPULATION INDICATED THAT THEY COULD AFFORD IT, WHICH I THINK IS AN IMPORTANT FINDING, UM, IN THE CONTEXT OF UNDERSTANDING THE SENSE OF THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF CONNECTIVITY.
NOW I'M GOING TO WALK YOU THROUGH A SERIES OF, UM, MAPS AND THROUGH THIS, I'M HOPING THAT I CAN ORIENT YOU TO HOW TO USE OUR INTERACTIVE MAPPING TOOL.
UM, MY FIRST MAP HERE IS SIMPLY OUTLINING THE FIVE COUNTY AREA THAT WAS A PART OF OUR STUDY.
AND IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE, PLEASE, I THINK THAT THIS IS AN INFORMATIVE MAP TO VIEW AT THE FIVE COUNTY AREA.
SO I JUST SELECTED IT FOR YOU.
THIS IS LOOKING AT RACE AND ETHNICITY, UH, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA, AND IT IS SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLACK OR AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION ACROSS OUR FIVE COUNTY AREA.
AND WHEN YOU GO ONLINE AND CLICK AGAIN, PLEASE THANK YOU.
THESE, UH, TWO GRAPHICS TO THE RIGHT SHOW, HOW YOU CAN TURN THESE DIFFERENT LAYERS ON AND OFF WHEN USING THE INTERACTIVE TOOL.
[00:25:01]
GRAPHIC IS AN EYEBALL THAT'S BEEN TURNED ON.AND THEN IN THE SECOND GRAPHIC, IT'S A DOWNWARD ARROW.
AND SO YOU GET THE CATEGORY FIRST AND THEN WITHIN THAT CATEGORY, YOU CAN SELECT THE SPECIFIC DATA ELEMENT THAT YOU WANT TO LOOK AT.
AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK, UH, THIS TIME A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DEPTH, BUT I'M GOING TO FOCUS FOR THE REST OF MY MAPS ON USING THE CITY OF BOSTON COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
SO IN THIS CASE, WE'VE STARTED BY TURNING THAT LAYER ON LIKE PLEASE.
AND NOW WE HAVE ZOOMED IN TO COUNCIL AREA FOR DISTRICT FOUR, PLEASE.
AND NOW WE'VE ADDED A DEMOGRAPHIC DATA LAYER.
IN THIS CASE, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE PERCENT OF PERSONS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL AND THE COLORS REFLECT THE RELATIVE CONCENTRATIONS BY CENSUS TRACKS.
AND WHEN YOU ARE WORKING WITH THE INTERACTIVE MAPPING TOOL, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR EACH, UM, DATA AREA THAT YOU LOOK AT TO CHECK THE COLOR RAMP, UM, AND IT REFLECTS THE PERCENTAGES AND THOSE CHANGE FOR EACH DATA ELEMENT THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE MORE, PLEASE.
NOW WE'VE ADDED A ZIP CODE LAYER TO THIS AND JUST BELOW CENTER OF THAT MAP IS 7 8 7 5 2.
IF YOU'LL FOCUS AT THE CENSUS UNDERLYING 7 8 7 5 2, AND CLICK, ONCE MORE, PLEASE YOU'LL SEE THAT THAT CENSUS TRACT IS NOW HIGHLIGHTED.
AND WHEN YOU CLICK ON A TRACK LIKE THAT, YOU CAN GET ADDITIONAL DATA ABOUT THAT GEOGRAPHY.
AND SO IN THIS CASE, THIS, THIS AREA IS TELLING US THAT 28.6% OF THE POPULATION IS BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.
AND THAT'S ABOUT TWENTY TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY NINE PEOPLE CLICK ONCE MORE, PLEASE.
THE NEXT PART OF THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND I WANT TO CALL IT TO YOUR ATTENTION.
WE DO INCLUDE WITH OUR MAPS, THE RELIABILITY OF THE DATA IN THAT GEOGRAPHY.
AND THAT BECOMES REALLY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO DRILL DOWN TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL.
AND WE HAVE USED THE, UH, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY GUIDANCE TO CALCULATE WHETHER THE DATA AT THE TRACK LEVEL IS RELIABLE USE WITH CAUTION OR UNRELIABLE.
AND WE HAVE INCLUDED DATA HERE THAT AT THIS SMALL GEOGRAPHY WOULD ALSO BE INCLUDED UNRELIABLE.
UM, BUT WE ARE TRYING TO EDUCATE PEOPLE TO BE WISE USERS OF THIS INFORMATION AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT ALL DATA HAS ITS LIMITATIONS.
AND WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO DO, UM, DATA ANALYTICS IN SMALL GEOGRAPHIES, UM, THE DATA, THE CHALLENGES TO THE DATA INCREASE THE SMALLER, YOUR GEOGRAPHY.
NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT SOMETHING A BIT MORE IN LINE WITH, WITH THIS GROUP, THE COMPUTING DEVICES BY COUNCIL DISTRICT.
UM, IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE PLEASE.
SO IN THIS FIRST MAP, WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE HOUSEHOLDS WITH ONE OR MORE COMPUTING DEVICES IN THIS CASE, THE DARKEST BLUE INDICATES 97% AND ABOVE HAVE DEVICES CLICK, PLEASE.
AND THAT IS CONTRASTED WITH THE NEXT MAP WHERE, UH, WE'RE SHOWING BY NEIGHBORHOOD OF HOUSEHOLDS, THOSE WHO HAVE ONLY A SMARTPHONE, AND YOU BEGIN TO SEE THE PATTERN OF DISPARITY THAT THAT BECOMES A PARENT, BUT IT, BECAUSE IT'S ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE PERCENTAGE IS BEING REFLECTED IN THOSE GEOGRAPHIES.
THE COLOR RAMP LOOKS THE SAME, BUT THE INFORMATION DIFFERS.
SO I WANT TO CALL THAT TO YOUR ATTENTION.
IN THE FIRST MAP, I SAID THAT THE DARKEST BLUE REFLECTED 97 TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH COMPUTING DEVICES IN THE SECOND MAP THAT IS REFLECTING, UM, 20 TO 34%.
SO UP TO A THIRD OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH ONLY A SMARTPHONE.
AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DATA ITSELF AND NOT JUST THE COLOR RAMPANT.
WE ALSO LOOKED AT INTERNET ACCESS BY COUNCIL
[00:30:01]
DISTRICT.AND IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE, PLEASE, THIS MAP REFLECTS HOUSEHOLDS WITH NO INTERNET ACCESS AND CLICK.
AND HERE WE HAVE HOUSEHOLDS WHERE THERE IS PURPORTEDLY INTERNET ACCESS, BUT THE HOUSEHOLD HAS NO SUBSCRIPTION.
AND THIS COULD BE, UM, BY CHOICE.
WE DID FIND SOME FOLKS MORE TYPICALLY OLDER FOLKS WHO FELT NO NEED FOR AN INTERNET SUBSCRIPTION.
BUT I THINK GIVEN THE PATTERN THAT WE'RE SEEING THERE, THIS IS MORE LIKELY TO BE AN ECONOMIC INDICATOR.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR CONCLUSIONS IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE, PLEASE.
SO DIGITAL EQUITIES EMERGING AS A SUPER DETERMINANT OF PELL, UM, IF YOU'LL CLICK TWICE, THANK YOU.
DIGITAL EQUITY IS ESSENTIAL FOR EDUCATION.
AND PARTICULARLY HERE, MY CONCERN IS THAT THE IMPACT OF A FAILURE TO ENSURE DIGITAL INCLUSION IS MULTI-GENERATIONAL.
IF WE LOSE THIS GENERATION OF YOUNG STUDENTS, THOSE ECONOMIC AND HEALTH EFFECTS BLOW, CARRY THROUGH FOR OTHER GENERATIONS, CLICK TWICE, PLEASE DIGITAL ACCESS IS ALSO ESSENTIAL FOR HEALTH IN OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS, UM, HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS NEED TO BE SCREENING FOR DEVICES, FOR INTERNET ACCESS FOR SKILLS AND AFFORDABILITY.
AND I'M CALLING THIS OUT BECAUSE THAT IS NOT PART OF THE CORE PRACTICE OR SO MANY OF OUR HEALTH PROVIDERS.
THEY ARE INTENTIONAL IN PROVIDING HEALTHCARE AND WE ARE NEEDING TO ELEVATE THIS.
AND I DO KNOW THAT A NUMBER OF OUR HEALTH PROVIDERS, UH, SERVING OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS HAVE NOW BEGUN TO INTEGRATE THIS INTO THEIR PRACTICES LIKE ONCE PLEASE, UM, WE'VE ALSO FOUND THAT SMARTPHONES ARE UBIQUITOUS.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT A FAMILY THAT HAS ONE SMART PHONE THAT HAS TO TRAVEL WITH A PARENT TO WORK THAT IS LEAVING KIDS AT HOME WITHOUT IF THEY'RE BEING EDUCATED AT PALM, THEY'VE GOT NO ACCESS.
UM, SIMILARLY, IF YOU THINK ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL KIDS, WHICH WE HAD THESE STORIES COME UP, WHO ARE TRYING TO COMPLETE CALCULATIONS ON A SPREADSHEET OR TRYING TO WRITE A PAPER AND THEY'RE DOING IT ON A CELL PHONE, IT'S INCREDIBLY CHALLENGING, UH, CLICK THREE TIMES, PLEASE.
SO ANOTHER BIG CONCERN THAT I'VE GOT IS WHO ACTUALLY OWNS RESPONSIBILITY FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION.
UM, MY CONCERN HERE IS THAT IT ISN'T CORE TO MOST OF OUR KEY INSTITUTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT I REALLY SEE THIS AS A CROSS SECTOR ISSUE.
AND I HAVE A HIGH CONCERN THAT THE RISK OF A RETURN TO SILOING WILL OCCUR POST PANDEMIC, UNLESS WE FIND SOME WAY TO MAINTAIN A VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY FOR THIS AS A CROSS SECTOR ISSUE THAT EACH SECTOR WILL HAVE TO ADDRESS, AND THAT WE HAVE TO FIND WAYS TO ADDRESS ELECTED WITH TWICE, PLEASE.
SO THE OTHER CONCLUSIONS ARE THAT WE DO NEED POLICIES TO ENHANCE DIGITAL EQUITY AND THEY ARE BEING DEVELOPED NOW CERTAINLY AT A FEDERAL LEVEL AND MORE, AND AS WELL AS AT A STATE.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF ACTIVITY MONITORING THAT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, I'M JUST CALLING IT OUT.
AND FINALLY, THAT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIGITAL ACCESS ARE NOW WITH THE FEDERAL FUNDS BEING DRIVEN DOWN TO THE STATE AND EQUITY EFFORTS NEED TO BE INTEGRATED INTO THE APPLICATIONS FOR THOSE FUNDS.
SO TAKING A LOOK AT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FIRST AT THE STATE LEVEL, I WANT TO PULL OUT THIS DOCUMENT, UM, PLANNING FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION IN TEXAS.
IF YOU'RE NOT AWARE OF IT, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU, UM, GET A COPY OF IT AND REVIEW IT.
AND WE DO HAVE, UH, A LINK TO THE ARTICLE IN OUR WEBSITE.
IT CAME FROM THE UT SCHOOL OF LAW, TEXAS BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION, AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS CLINIC.
WHAT THEY IDENTIFIED IS THAT ALL TEXANS NEED ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE AND RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.
IF YOU'LL CLICK ONCE, PLEASE, MY CONCERN IS AROUND THE DEFINITION OF WHAT IS HIGH-SPEED BROADBAND.
UM, FOR MY WORK I NEED GIGABIT SPEED.
UH, I THINK THAT WE HAVE FOUND FOR MOST PEOPLE
[00:35:01]
WHO'VE HAD TO WORK REMOTELY.UM, IT IS CHALLENGING TO THINK THAT YOU WOULD BE DOING A 10 MEGABIT UPLOAD.
SO WE HAVE TO REALLY PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT ARE THE DEFINITIONS, THE OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS BEING EMPLOYED.
PEOPLE ALSO NEED ACCESS TO INTERNET ENABLED DEVICES, DIGITAL LITERACY, TRAINING, AND TECH SUPPORT.
SO IN ADDITION TO WHAT ALL TEXANS NEED, OUR TEXAS COMMUNITIES NEED IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS.
WE NEED ONGOING GRANTS AND FUNDING FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL EFFORTS, AS WELL AS PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO ADVANCE DIGITAL INCLUSION.
IF YOU CLICK, PLEASE, FIRST AUSTIN IS A RICHLY RESOURCED COMMUNITY AND WE REALLY SHOULD BE A NATIONAL LEADER FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION AND EQUITY CLICK FOR ENTITIES ALREADY WORKING IN AREAS OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION.
THEY SHOULD INCORPORATE DIGITAL EQUITY WITHIN NEXT GO.
BUT THOSE THAT ARE SERVING PEOPLE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH SHOULD SCREEN AND MONITOR CLIENT NEEDS FOR DIGITAL ACCESS, BUT TO BE COMPETITIVE FOR INVESTMENT, IT'S ESSENTIAL TOGETHER, LOCAL DATA ON BROADBAND ACCESS, RELIABILITY AND SPEED TESTING CLICK.
WE CAN DEVELOP THE CAPACITY TO ASSESS LOCAL NEEDS BY ENGAGING MEMBERS OF OUR PRIORITY POPULATIONS.
AND I'M THINKING PARTICULARLY OF THINGS SUCH AS ENGAGING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO LIVE IN THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, AS WELL AS OTHERS, BUT THOSE COME TO MIND READILY ALSO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND ANCHOR INSTITUTIONS.
SO OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS, OUR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE SYSTEMS IN OUR LIBRARIES NEED TO COLLABORATE ACROSS SECTORS AND WORK WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE TICK TO SUPPORT THE TEXAS BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
NEXT W WE ALSO NEED TRUSTED DIGITAL NAVIGATORS WHO HAVE THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE, UM, TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SUPPORT FOR THOSE WITH LESS ACCESS, THOSE DIGITAL NAVIGATORS NEED FUNDING FOR THEIR SERVICES.
NEXT ALSO TECHNOLOGY WILL CONTINUE TO EVOLVE.
SO A TEACHER ACHIEVING DIGITAL EQUITY WILL BE AN ONGOING PROCESS NEXT, AND WE NEED TO DEVELOP METRICS.
WE NEED TO TRACK AND PUBLICLY REPORT OUR PROGRESS AS WELL AS DOCUMENT OUR CHALLENGES.
AND WE WILL OPEN IT TO QUESTIONS ANSWERS.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S TIME FOR A MAPPING DEMO.
YOU CAN PROVIDE ME THAT FEEDBACK.
I DID WANT TO NOTE THAT ON OUR WEBSITE, WE HAVE, UM, A LIST OF THE PARTNERS IN THE AUSTIN AREA THAT WE COULD IDENTIFY TRYING TO WORK IN THIS SPACE.
THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
UH, I THINK, UH, LET ME ASK BEFORE WE PROCEED WITH QUESTIONS, UH, HOW LONG WOULD YOU NEED FOR THE MAPPING DEMO? HOW LONG WOULD YOU NEED FOR THE MAPPING DEMO? HOW LONG WOULD YOU NEED DAN? HOW LONG WOULD YOU NEED TO A MAPPING DEMO? IF WE DID ONE, I THINK I COULD DO IT AS QUICKLY AS FIVE MINUTES OR 10 MINUTES AT MOST.
NOW LET'S GO AHEAD AND PROCEED WITH THAT NOW.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN SHARE MY SCREEN.
I'D LIKE TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THANK YOU ALL FOR THAT VERY RICH PRESENTATION.
UH, AS THE COMMISSION SHOULD KNOW, WE'VE RECEIVED A PREVIEW OF THIS PRESENTATION IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSIONS, AND THEY'VE IMPLEMENTED SOME FEEDBACK THAT WE SUGGESTED TO HELP MAKE THIS MORE PERTINENT TO OUR AUDIENCE HERE.
THERE'S CLEARLY AN ABUNDANCE OF RICH INSIGHTS THAT ORGANIZATIONS, INDIVIDUALS, AND POLICYMAKERS CAN LEVERAGE TO BENEFIT THE COMMUNITY.
IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE I'M, UH, ABLE TO SHARE MY SCREEN.
I DON'T KNOW IF I NEED TO BE ENABLED BY THE HOST OR WHAT THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
ARE YOU SEEING A PICTURE OF A MAP RIGHT NOW? YES, WE ARE.
[00:40:01]
SUSAN DID GIVE A, UH, AN OVERVIEW OF THE MAPS AND HOW TO USE THEM JUST IN CASE WE WEREN'T ABLE TO SHARE THE SCREEN.SO SOME OF WHAT I SAY MIGHT BE, UH, REPETITIVE, BUT I'LL, I'LL DO MY BEST.
UM, ESSENTIALLY THESE MAPS, UH, ARE LOCATED THERE THROUGHOUT THE, UH, THE WEBSITE BASED ON THE RELEVANT TOPIC AREAS, BUT WE'VE ALSO CONSOLIDATED THEM ALL IN THIS LAST TAB, UH, APPS AND DEMOGRAPHICS.
AND SO UNDER THERE, YOU SEE THERE'S VARIOUS DIFFERENT MAPS THAT YOU CAN, UH, VIEW.
AND FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEMONSTRATION, I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THE ONE IS RELEVANT TO, UH, DIGITAL ACCESS.
IF I CAN GET THAT TO COME UP, MAYBE REFRESH MY SCREEN.
UM, SO WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE IS THE, THE MAP OF, UH, INTERNET ACCESS AND TO THE RIGHT, WE HAVE THE LEGEND AND SUSAN WENT OVER THIS, UM, ESSENTIALLY THIS IS SHOWING THE PERCENTAGES, UH, CONCENTRATIONS WITHIN EACH OF THE CENSUS TRACKS FOR THE RELEVANT VARIABLES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
UM, IN THIS CASE, UH, ONE THING I WANT TO POINT OUT IS THAT THESE, UH, LAYERS ON THE FAR RIGHT, ARE ALL STACKED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.
SO WHICHEVER LAYER IS ENABLED, UM, IF THERE'S OTHER LAYERS ENABLED, THEY'RE FURTHER DOWN THE ROW, UM, ESSENTIALLY THEY WON'T BE VISIBLE UNLESS YOU TURN THE OTHER ONE OFF.
WE HAVE THE SUBHEADINGS, WHICH YOU'VE SEEN, AND I WANT TO SHOW YOU, UM, INTERNET ACCESS.
SO THIS IS FOR HOUSEHOLDS WITH NO INTERNET ACCESS IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW.
UM, SUSAN DEMONSTRATED BEFORE THAT WE CAN ALSO OVERLAY THIS WITH VARIOUS, UH, CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS OR THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT PRECINCTS, THE ZIP CODE BOUNDARIES.
THESE ARE ESSENTIALLY, UM, EMPTY LAYERS.
I MEAN, THEY'RE, THEY'RE A VISUAL REFERENCE POINT, BUT THEY DON'T CONTAIN ANY OF THE DATA SO WE CAN ZOOM IN.
WE CAN PAN AROUND TO DIFFERENT AREAS THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT.
UM, AND ALSO AS SUSAN HAD DEMONSTRATED, YOU CAN CLICK INTO EACH OF THE CENSUS TRACKS TO GET, UM, MORE INFORMATION.
SO IF I WERE TO CLICK INTO THIS ONE, FOR INSTANCE, IT'LL SHOW ME WHICH CENSUS TRACT IT IS.
AND IT'S SHOWING ME THE PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT HAVE NO INTERNET ACCESS IS 31.3.
UH, AND ALSO THAT AMOUNTS TO ABOUT 562 HOUSEHOLDS.
UM, ALSO IT'S SHOWING US THAT THIS, UH, PARTICULAR CENSUS TRACK THAT DATA, AND THERE WAS CONSIDERED RELIABLE IF I WERE TO CLICK ON DIFFERENT ONE, UH, THE SAME INFORMATION, UH, IN THIS CASE IT'S USED WITH CAUTION.
SO AGAIN, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS FOR THE USERS OF THE MAP TO DETERMINE, UM, YOU KNOW, IN SOME CASES IT WILL SAY UNRELIABLE OR UNDEFINED.
AND SO THAT WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE MUCH MORE QUESTIONABLE EVIDENCE TO USE.
UM, SO ESSENTIALLY I THINK THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT THESE LAYERS LAY ON TOP OF EACH OTHER, UM, WE COULD ALSO LOOK AT DEMOGRAPHICS AND IT ALL WORKS THE SAME.
UH, ESSENTIALLY YOU EXPAND THESE HEADERS AND WE COULD LOOK AT RIGHT NOW, WE'RE DEFAULTING TO SEEING HOUSEHOLDS CONCENTRATIONS OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OLD.
NOW WITH THE DARKER COLORS INDICATING, UH, NINE TO 16% OF HOUSEHOLDS, UM, UNDER THAT IS INCOME AND POVERTY AND RACE AND ETHNICITY.
SO WE COULD LOOK AT LIKE SCROLL UP HERE, UH, AGE UNDER FIVE.
AND THEN UNDERNEATH THAT, LET'S SAY WE WANTED TO SEE THOSE HOUSEHOLDS THAT HAVE, UH, THEY'RE BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.
SO I'M ACTIVATING THAT IN THE LEGEND HAS COME UP, BUT I'M NOT SEEING IT.
AND THE REASON IS THAT THIS LAYER WITH AGE GROUP IS ON TOP OF IT.
SO IF I UNCLICK THAT NOW WE'RE SEEING THE, UH, HOUSEHOLDS WITH, UM, WE'RE BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL.
[00:45:01]
I COULD ALSO TURN AGE GROUP BACK ON UNDER FIVE AND THERE'S A TRANSPARENCY FEATURE, SO I CAN, UH, ESSENTIALLY CHANGE THE TRANSPARENCY.SO WE SEE THE LAYER UNDERNEATH IT.
SO NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT POVERTY AND AS I INCREASE THE OPACITY, NOW WE'RE SEEING AGE AGAIN, WE CAN, WE CAN ZOOM IN AND AROUND.
WE CAN CLICK ON SPECIFIC CENSUS TRACKS TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT THEM.
UM, SO I BELIEVE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT I WANTED TO SHOW YOU ALL IN TERMS OF HOW TO NAVIGATE THESE MAPS.
UH, AGAIN, THERE'S SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UM, MAPS, UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, AREAS OF INTEREST, UM, ACS, DEMOGRAPHICS, INTERNET DATA, UH, CHILD OPPORTUNITY INDEX, UM, 2, 1, 1 NEEDS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED, UH, FROM THE TWO, ONE, ONE CALL LINE AND SO MAPS FROM THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THERE FOR YOU ALL TO REVIEW.
AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
UH, I KNOW I'VE GOT A FEW THINGS THAT WE COVERED ALREADY.
I'D LIKE TO GIVE, UH, OUR COMMISSIONERS WHO HAVE NOT YET HAD A CHANCE TO ASK QUESTIONS IN THE WHARTON GROUP SESSIONS, A CHANCE TO ASK THE FIRST QUESTIONS HERE TODAY, AS WE GO AHEAD AND DO A LITTLE ROUND TABLE I'VE GOT SAW COMMISSIONER DOES SCOOPED ONLINE, HAD HIS HAND RAISED, PLEASE GO RIGHT AHEAD.
UM, SO I HAVE A SERIES OF QUESTIONS.
SO LET ME FIRST ASK THE BASIC QUESTION, WHICH IS, UH, THIS SURVEY, WAS IT DONE ELECTRONICALLY, OR WAS IT DONE, UH, WITH, UH, UH, TO FACE OR ZOOM MEETINGS WHERE YOU INTERVIEWED PEOPLE? AND THE REASON I'M ASKING IS BECAUSE I HAVE DEVELOPED A FAIRLY DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THE, OF, OF THE DATA THAT YOU PRESENTED IN A MUCH MORE DETAILED FORMAT.
UH, I NOTICED THAT YOU COVERED THE DISTRICT FOUR IN SOME DETAIL.
THAT'S AN AREA THAT I FOCUSED ON DURING THE CENSUS.
I WAS COVERING BASICALLY THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY, AND THERE'S A LANGUAGE BARRIER.
SO IF YOU DID AN INTERVIEW, UH, I WONDER HOW MUCH OF THE DATA, UH, UH, IS RELIABLE WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE WITH LESS THAN ADEQUATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS.
SO IT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
AND, UM, MY ANSWER IS THAT WE DID BOTH PAPER SURVEYS AND ELECTRONIC SURVEYS.
THE BOTH SURVEYS WERE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
THEY WERE NOT IN ANY OF THE ASIAN LANGUAGES.
WE DIDN'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DO THAT.
UM, THINKING ABOUT THE ASIAN POPULATION, THE WAY THAT WE WERE ABLE TO INCORPORATE CONCERNS ABOUT THAT POPULATION IN OUR STUDY WAS THROUGH OUR FOCUS GROUPS AND, UM, OUR FOCUS GROUPS INCLUDED, UM, PERSONS DIRECTLY, BUT ALSO THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE TYPICALLY PROVIDING FRONTLINE SERVICES.
AND WE DID HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM, UM, HEALTH CLINICS THAT ARE SERVING ASIAN POPULATIONS.
UM, AND WITH AN UNDERSTANDING THAT LANGUAGE IS A, UH, A BARRIER TO CARE.
WE ALSO HAD REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE AUSTIN, UM, ASIAN COMMUNITY CENTER, UM, THAT PARTICIPATED.
AND SO IN OUR PRESENTATION OF THE INFORMATION.
SO I THINK THAT YOU ARE CORRECT THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR SURVEYS ALONE, WE ARE PROBABLY NOT SEEING AN ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION OF THE ASIAN POPULATION, UM, WHERE WE ARE GETTING MORE OF THAT INFORMATION IS THROUGH THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE IN OUR FOCUS GROUP.
AND WE DO CITE SOME OF THOSE COMMENTS IN OUR BUILD ONLINE.
UM, THE OTHER WAY THAT WE DID INCORPORATE, UH, PARTICULARLY THE ASIAN POPULATION, WHEN WE DID OUR PAPER SURVEY DISTRIBUTION, WE DID THAT IN CONCERT WITH, UH, ONE OF THE MASSIVE FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS.
AND SO IF THE FAMILIES COULD UNDERSTAND THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE SURVEY ON PAPER, WE DID PICK UP SOME ASIAN FAMILIES THAT WAY.
MY QUESTION WAS ACTUALLY FOCUSED ON THE ASIAN POPULATION PER SE, BUT PEOPLE WITH LESS THAN ADEQUATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS AND IT COVERS EVERY ETHNIC GROUP.
UH, MY, MY FOLLOWUP QUESTION IS, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I FOUND IS THAT
[00:50:01]
WHEN COVID HIT IT HIT DISTRICT FOUR PARTICULARLY BADLY, BECAUSE THERE'S A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF REFUGEES, UNDOCUMENTED, RECENT IMMIGRANTS WHO LIVE IN THAT, IN THAT PARTICULAR DISTRICT.AND, UH, THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF, UH, CENSUS TRACKS WHERE ESSENTIALLY THE SCHOOL SYSTEM SHUT DOWN BECAUSE FOR TWO REASONS, ONE IS THE TEACHERS DIDN'T HAVE THE ELECTRONIC GEAR TO MOVE TO ZOOM.
AND SECONDLY, THE STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE THE EQUIPMENT.
AND IN A, IN A, IN A PREVIOUS MEETING OF THIS COMMISSION, THE DIRECTOR OF IT, HE CAME AND TOLD US WHAT HE HAD DONE ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS IS LAUDABLE.
WHAT, WHAT BODY ISD DID, HOWEVER, HARDWARE DOES NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
NEITHER THE TEACHERS, NOR THE STUDENTS HAD THE ABILITY TO USE THE EQUIPMENT, WHICH IS WHY THAT DISTRIBUTION OF HARDWARE DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE.
SO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL.
THERE'S A GROUP OF STUDENTS IN THAT DISTRICT THAT IS THREE MONTHS BEHIND THE REST OF THE CITY.
SO IN YOUR CONCLUSIONS, I DID SEE A REFERENCE TO IT, SUPPORT TECH SUPPORT, ET CETERA.
I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE CONCLUSIONS TO BE FAR STRONGER IN THAT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO DISTRIBUTE HARDWARE, BUT IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO DISTRIBUTE WITH IT, THE NECESSARY TECHNICAL USABILITY SKILLS.
HOW DO YOU USE THAT DEVICE FOR YOUR PROGRESS FORWARD? AND SO I, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY ENDORSE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
AND, UM, I'M TAKING TO HEART THE RECOMMENDATION THAT WE MAKE THAT RECOMMENDATION STRONGER.
I WAS ABLE TO WITNESS, UM, WITH OUR FOCUS GROUPS, OUR SPANISH LANGUAGE FOCUS GROUPS, EXACTLY THE KINDS OF, OF SITUATIONS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND HEARING FROM THE PARENTS DIRECTLY.
UM, WE ALSO WORK WITH SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS THAT ARE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS AND THE KINDS OF STORIES THAT YOU'RE BRINGING FORWARD.
SO I ABSOLUTELY ENDORSE YOUR FINDINGS.
I LIKE TO CHIME IN THERE FOR KIT FOR A BRIEF MOMENT, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY.
I WANT TO MAKE SURE IT'S CLEAR FOR ALL COMMISSIONERS TOMORROW.
OUR GUESTS HERE HAVE AGREED TO COME AND ACTUALLY PRESENT AS WELL TO OUR WORKING GROUP AND HAVE ANOTHER DISCUSSION.
WE TRIED TO EARMARK THAT TIME UPFRONT AND THE ADMIT THAT WE WOULD HAVE SOME FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS.
IN FACT, I KNOW THE CHAIR THAT WORKING GROUP WAS ALREADY REQUESTED THAT YOU GUYS BE WILLING TO, IF YOU'RE WILLING TO GO AND ADD TO THE AGENDA.
SO I'D LIKE TO JUST REMIND ALL COMMISSIONERS OF THAT IN LIGHT OF OUR TIME, NEED FOR TIME LIMITATION HERE TONIGHT.
BUT BEFORE WE PROCEED, THE LIGHTS CONFIRMED.
THERE'S ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I KNOW I'VE GOT A COUPLE OF THINGS I'D LIKE TO SPEAK ON ABOUT THE PRESENTATION COMMISSIONER GATES.
THANK YOU FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
THE, UH, THE DATA, UH, THAT HAS BEEN ANALYZED BY THIS AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY IS REALLY AMAZING, BUT I NOTICED THAT MOST OF THE 2 20 19, DO YOU KNOW IF THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO HAVE A SURVEY IN 2022? SO WHAT IS ACTUALLY REPRESENTED IN THE DEMOGRAPHICS? THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DEMOGRAPHIC IS A FIVE-YEAR ESTIMATE.
AND EVERY YEAR THEY COME OUT WITH THE FIVE, THE, AS THE AVERAGE FOR THE PRIOR FIVE YEARS WORTH OF SURVEYS.
AND THAT BECOMES REALLY IMPORTANT FOR HELPING TO INCREASE THE RELIABILITY OF THE DATA.
I THINK IT WAS YESTERDAY THAT THE 2025 YEAR ESTIMATE HAS BEEN POSTED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU, UM, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, HOWEVER, THIS PROJECT FOR US WAS GRANT FUNDED AND WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY FUNDED TO, UM, UPDATE THAT DEMOGRAPHIC DATA.
I AM TRYING TO CALL TO THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO WOULD USE THE DATA, THE POTENTIAL FOR DOING THAT.
AND, UM, IF THERE IS VALUE IN THE DATA, AND IF WE SEE THAT PEOPLE ARE UNDERSTANDING THE LIMITATIONS OF THE DATA WHEN THEY USE IT.
SO I, I DO WANT TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT THAT, BUT, UM, I THINK THAT THERE ARE WAYS OF WORKING WITH THE CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH BOARD MEMBERS AND OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO CONSIDER THAT.
[00:55:01]
UM, BUT AT THIS POINT IN TIME FOR THIS PROJECT, WE ARE NOT FUNDED FOR THAT, BUT THE FUNDING HAS COMPLETED.SO POSSIBLY THIS COMMISSION COULD ACT AS AN ADVOCATE FOR HELPING THEM, UH, GET SOME MORE GRANTS FOR THIS, BECAUSE THIS LOOKS LIKE A REALLY IMPORTANT SURVEY THAT THEY'VE DONE.
I WANT TO BE CLEAR HERE THAT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS SUSTAINING THE ABILITY TO, UM, ANALYZE AND PROVIDE THE MAPPING OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY DATA.
THAT'S SEPARATE FROM OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION SURVEY WORK, AND THAT WOULD TAKE, UM, THAT WOULD TAKE FURTHER DISCUSSION.
I THINK THAT'S THE BEST WAY THAT I CAN LEAVE THAT FOR YOU AT THIS POINT, WE APPRECIATE YOUR CANDOR.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HOPEFULLY HAVING MORE CANDID DISCUSSION IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSIONS ABOUT THAT, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE ARE HIGHLY SUPPORTIVE OF FUNDING, THIS TYPE OF RESEARCH, THIS TYPE OF DATA COLLECTION AND DATA SHARING.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS IN THE GROUP? UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, EXCUSE ME, VICE CHAIR, APODACA.
AND YES, THANK YOU FOR COMING TO PRESENT TO US.
MY QUESTION, UM, WAS AROUND, UH, THE DIGITAL INCLUSION SURVEY AND OVER WHAT PERIOD OF TIME WAS A SURVEY CONDUCTED, UH, BECAUSE THAT FED INTO A SECOND QUESTION.
I HAD TO SEE IF, UH, PERHAPS YOU SAW OR OBSERVED ANY SHIFTS IN THE DATA, UH, DO THE PA DUE TO THE PANDEMIC, MAYBE DURING A LOCKDOWN OR IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE LOCKDOWN, PARTICULARLY AROUND THE QUESTION ITEMS THAT FOCUSED ON IMPORTANCE OF, UM, CONNECTIVITY OR STRUGGLING TO MEET CERTAIN NEEDS.
SO LET ME BEGIN TO ANSWER, AND THEN YOU CAN ASK PROBING QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT HELP ME, BUT, UM, TO ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION, WE, UH, SUBMITTED THE GRANT PROPOSAL IN MAY OF 2020.
UM, SO COVID HIT IN MARCH SCHOOL, SHUT DOWN.
UM, BY THE BEGINNING OF MAY, PEOPLE WERE UNDERSTANDING WHAT A DISASTER, THIS WAS PARTICULARLY FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
AND THEN IT, AS IT CONTINUED, WE WERE REALIZING THAT NOT ONLY WERE KIDS, NOT IN SCHOOL, BUT THEY WEREN'T GETTING THEIR MEALS.
AND SO FOOD ACCESS BECAME A BIG PROBLEM.
UM, AND, AND AS WE CONTINUED OUR WORK, OUR COH BOARD, THE HEALTH MEMBERS ON OUR BOARD ASKED US TO EXPAND OUR SCOPE, TO INCLUDE HEALTH CARE ISSUES.
THAT IS ALL PREFACED TO SAYING, WE SUBMITTED THE GRANT IN MAY.
IT'S FUNDED IN AUGUST OF 2020.
AND, UM, OUR FIRST ROUND OF SURVEYS BEGAN IN OCTOBER OF 2020.
AND THEN WE CONTINUED TO SURVEY THROUGH, UH, BELIEVE IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF JULY.
I THINK OUR LAST ATTEMPT TO SURVEY WAS THE 4TH OF JULY.
UM, SO THAT'S THE POINT IN TIME IN TERMS OF SEEING ANY TRENDS IN OUR SURVEYS OVER THAT TIME? I DON'T REALLY THINK I'VE SEEN THOSE TRENDS.
I THINK WHERE I SAW THE DIFFERENCES RATHER THAN IN THE SURVEYS WAS IN THE, UM, INTERVIEWS THAT WE WERE DOING WITH KEY INFORMANTS AND UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PANDEMIC WAS A ROLLING DISASTER, THAT, THAT NEW ISSUES, NEW CHALLENGES CAME UP, NEW LEARNINGS WERE EMERGING.
AND SO OUR FINDINGS THROUGH, THROUGH THOSE INTERVIEWS SEEM TO EVOLVE OVER TIME.
I'M NOT SURE THAT'S AN ADEQUATE ANSWER FOR YOU.
YEAH, NO, UM, THAT, THAT WAS, UH, THAT WAS A GREAT ANSWER.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THE TIMING AND, UM, YEAH, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU IF THERE ARE ANY SORT OF ANY LIVED EXPERIENCES OR STORIES, UH, TO PERHAPS EMPHASIZE ON FUTURE PRESENTATIONS AROUND WHAT YOU MENTIONED ON THE, UM, THE, UM, THE, THE, THE INTERVIEW, THE GROUP INTERVIEWS.
I THINK THOSE WOULD BE GOOD AS WELL.
I'LL ALSO POINT OUT THAT IF YOU GO INTO THE SECOND AREA THAT THE DIGITAL INCLUSION AND SOCIAL DETERMINANTS TAB IN OUR BUILD THAT EACH OF THOSE DATA STORIES, WE, WE DO INTEGRATE THE COMMENTS FROM PEOPLE EITHER THROUGH OUR CHAN FORMAT.
FINALLY SURVEY COMMENTS AND OUR FOCUS GROUPS.
UH, THE ONE THING THAT WE TRIED TO DO AND DIDN'T SUCCEED AT, WE, I HAVE MENTIONED WE DID FOUR OF OUR FOCUS GROUPS IN
[01:00:01]
SPANISH, AND WE HAD A COUPLE OF EXCELLENT SPANISH LANGUAGE COMMENTS, AND WE HAD TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES TRYING TO POST THE SPAN.WE WERE TRYING TO DO THE AUDIO POSTING OF THE COMMENT AND THEN PROVIDE THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF IT AS WELL.
AND WE JUST COULDN'T GET THAT DONE.
WE HAD TOO MANY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES WITH IT.
SO I BELIEVE WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE GOT THE WRITTEN COMMENT IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH.
I THINK THAT'S HOW WE'VE HANDLED IT AGAIN.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, I THINK WE ALL LOVE DATA AND THRIVE ON DATA.
UM, SOMETHING THAT THIS DATA, UM, REALLY REMINDED ME OF AND SOMETHING I'D LIKE TO ENCOURAGE THIS COMMISSION AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK TOGETHER WITH THERE OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS TO DO IS REALLY, UM, I KNOW YOU SAID THIS, THIS DATA HERE AS AN AVERAGE OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, AND WE'VE ALL SEEN AND EXPERIENCED, UM, AN EXTREME CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE OF ALL OF OUR DISTRICTS IN THE CITY IS PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO INCOME CONCENTRATION.
SO I REALLY LIKED HOW IT WAS CO UH, CROSS-REFERENCED HERE WITH ACCESS, BUT, UM, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US AS A COMMISSION TO FOCUS IN ON, UM, HOW INCOME CONCENTRATION IS CHANGING IN OUR DISTRICTS AND REALLY MAKING SURE THAT AS WE SEE, UM, THEN THE INCREASED ACCESS IN OUR DISTRICTS, THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALSO RECOGNIZING THAT THERE'S INCREASED INCOME IN THOSE DISTRICTS AS WELL.
SO, UM, JUST A GOOD NOTE TO KIND OF FOLLOW THROUGH, UH, OUR LENSES IN THE FUTURE.
YOU'RE HERE, COULDN'T AGREE MORE.
THAT'S A GREAT OBSERVATION AND CALL OUT.
UH, WE'VE SEEN LOTS OF CHANGE IN OUR ZIP CODES AND, UH, AND CLEARLY INCREASING INCOME DISPARITY, REFLECTING THE DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE DYNAMICS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO VERY IMPORTANT TO STAY MINDFUL OF THOSE CHANGES WHEN THEY COME IN, THEY CHANGE THE MAPS.
UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK I'D LIKE TO MAYBE JUST MENTION BRIEFLY, UM, FROM MY PART, SHARING THE CONCERN ABOUT A RETURN TO SILOING.
I KNOW THAT WHEN I BEGAN WORKING WITH THIS COMMISSION, ONE OF THE MAIN CONCERNS THAT I HAD FROM AN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT REALLY MANAGEMENT AND A CHALLENGE FOR DATA AND INFORMATION FLOW, WHEN IT CAME TO CAPABILITY MAPPING AND STRATEGIC PLANNING, THAT WE NEEDED TO FIND A WAY TO SHARE AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CHALLENGES WITH AS MANY SOLUTION MAKERS AND COLLABORATIVE THINKERS AS POSSIBLE.
IF WE'RE GOING TO TRY TO WORK AS A COMMISSION TO SOLVE THEM.
SO THINKING ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE DIGITAL INCLUSION ECOSYSTEM, IT'S CLEAR BECAUSE, BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY WAYS THAT DIGITAL INCLUSION AFFECTS IN DIGITAL EQUITY AFFECTS SO MANY THINGS THAT IT'S EASY FOR IT TO BECOME SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT, BUT THEN NO ONE NECESSARILY ADVANCES IN THE WAY THAT IT NEEDS TO BE.
SO THIS KIND OF WORK IS CRITICAL FOR THAT.
I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK WITH THIS, AND, AND THANK YOU FOR BEING WILLING TO COME BEFORE US TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND BEING PART OF AN ONGOING DISCUSSION WITH US ABOUT THESE ISSUES.
I LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING MORE ROBUST DISCUSSION TOMORROW.
AND SO FOR ANYONE THAT IS NOT ALREADY PART OF THAT WORKING GROUP, THERE'S STILL ROOM FOR, I THINK, ONE MORE MEMBER, WHICH I'D HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO JOIN.
WE'VE GOT, YOU HAD A GREAT DISCUSSION LAST WORKING GROUP MEETING AND LOOKING FORWARD TO DIVING INTO MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE STATE OF HERE TOMORROW.
SO WITH THAT THEN UNLESS THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR TIME.
SPEAKERS ARE REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU BROUGHT TODAY AS SUSAN AND DAN.
SO WITH THAT, THEN WE'LL PROCEED IN OUR AGENDA.
WANT TO THANK THE PATIENTS OF OUR, OF OUR NEXT SPEAKER AS WE COME TO AGENDA ITEM TWO
[2.b. Presentation on Public Producer Workforce Development Programming (Rakeda Ervin and Rebecca Campbell, Austin Film Society – Austin Public)]
B PRESENTATION ON PUBLIC, UH, PRODUCER WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING BY MAKITA IRVING AND REBECCA CAMPBELL FROM AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY.I THINK YOU, UM, GOODY BRENE COMMISSIONERS, AND THANKS FOR HAVING THE AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY TONIGHT, UM, I'M REBECCA CAMPBELL.
AS YOU KNOW, WE MANAGE PUBLIC ACCESS, TELEVISION AND COMMUNITY MEDIA FOR THE CITY.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT SINCE OCTOBER OF 2015.
AND, UM, I'M JOINED BY ROKITA URBAN, UH, WHO JOINED LAST FALL, JOINED THE STAFF LAST FALL, UM, AS OUR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
AND I SEE MY COLLEAGUE, I SAW HIM,
[01:05:01]
UM, DOUG GRAY, UH, WHO'S OUR SPACE STATION MANAGER.DOUG, UM, HAS PRESENTED BEFORE YOU IN THE PAST THAT THIS IS MAKITA'S AND MY FIRST TIME.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE GLAD TO BE HERE.
RICKY IS GOING TO BE FILLING YOU IN ON A NEW PROGRAM THAT WE'VE JUST LAUNCHED CALLED AFS CREATIVE CAREERS.
UH, THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT'S CREATING ACCESS TO JOBS IN THE FILM AND CREATIVE MEDIA INDUSTRIES WITH A FOCUS ON PEOPLE WHO'VE HISTORICALLY BEEN UNDERREPRESENTED IN THIS INDUSTRY AND WHO WERE LOOKING FOR PATHWAYS INTO THESE CAREERS.
UM, OUR CONTRACT FOR PUBLIC ACCESS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WAS RENEWED LAST FALL AND HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THIS CAREER COMPONENT.
AND THAT'S WHY WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO LAUNCH THE PROGRAM.
AND WE THINK IT'S GREAT NEWS FOR THE COMMUNITY.
THE TIMING IS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD, UM, FOR AFS AS WELL, BECAUSE JUST AS WE STARTED UP THIS NEW FIVE-YEAR CYCLE WITH THE CITY, WE'VE ALSO BEEN PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN ACROSS OUR WHOLE ORGANIZATION.
WE ACTUALLY RECEIVED A GRANT, UM, ABOUT 18 MONTHS AGO FROM BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES.
SO WE GOT TO GO THROUGH A FACILITATED PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, AND SO WHILE SOME OF OUR PRAGUE PROGRAMS HAD TO BE PAUSED DURING THE PANDEMIC, IT BECAME A TIME WHEN WE COULD, UM, STEP BACK AND REALLY FOCUS ON OUR PRIORITIES, UM, WHICH WE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS SINCE 1985.
WE'VE GROWN FROM A $200,000 ORGANIZATION TO A $6 MILLION ORGANIZATION, BUT OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WE NEED TO STEP IT UP MORE BECAUSE OUR CITY IS GROWING AND CHANGING SO FAST.
SO WE'VE COME UP WITH SOME REALLY GREAT PLANS FOR STRENGTHENING THE FILMING CREATIVE MEDIA ECOSYSTEM IN TEXAS.
SO BEFORE ROKITA SPEAKS, UM, I WANTED TO SHARE A FEW OF THE OBJECTIVES IN THE PLAN WITH, UM, THAT I THINK ARE REALLY RELEVANT TO THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
AND THEN NIKITA WILL GIVE YOU SOME SPECIFICS ABOUT CREATIVE CAREERS.
SO, UM, EVERY GOOD PLAN STARTS WITH A VISION.
IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, AFSL ENVISIONS A CULTURE IN WHICH ART AND INDUSTRY WORK TOGETHER TO FEED INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN ORDER TO BUILD A MORE EQUITABLE ARTISTIC AND PROSPEROUS WORLD.
UM, AND WHAT'S GREAT IS IT TURNS OUT OUR VISION ALIGNS WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S OWN VISION IN SO MANY WAYS, BECAUSE THE CITY'S VISION IS ALSO GEARED TOWARDS SOCIAL EQUITY, CREATIVITY, AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY.
AND IT'S LOOKING FOR LEADERSHIP TO COME FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND WE'RE THRILLED TO BE IN A POSITION TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP AROUND FILM, UM, FS WANTS TO STRENGTHEN THE ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM.
SO FOR US, THERE'S THREE PILLARS TO IT, ARTISTS, CULTURE, AND INDUSTRY.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL GIVE SOME CONTEXT.
UM, FOR SOME OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS WE OPERATE IN ADDITION TO AUSTIN PUBLIC.
SO, UM, I HOPE THAT YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE AFS CINEMA, UM, IT'S, AUSTIN'S ESSENTIAL CENTRAL HOME FOR FILM, AND IT'S THE CITY'S ONLY TRUE ART HOUSE THEATER.
IT'S A GATHERING PLACE FOR FILM LOVERS AND FILMMAKERS.
WE SERVE 76,000 MOVIE-GOERS ANNUALLY AND SCREEN OVER 400 FILMS THAT HAVE BEEN PROFESSIONALLY CURATED BY OUR PROGRAMMERS THAT ARE FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.
AND WE REALLY BRING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER AROUND THE INSPIRATION OF GREAT CINEMA AND THEN AUSTIN STUDIOS, WHICH IS OUR 20 ACRE FACILITY.
THAT'S A CENTER FOR FILM CREATIVES AND IT'S HOME TO LARGE AND SMALL PRODUCTION COMPANIES.
AUSTIN STUDIOS, UM, WAS FOUNDED IN 2000.
IT'S LOCATED AT THE FORMER AIRPORT AND IT'S AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TEXAS FILM ECOSYSTEM.
IT CONTRIBUTES GREATLY TO AUSTIN'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND IT'S HELPED BRING OVER $2 BILLION WITH A B TO THE CITY THROUGH, UM, UH, 625 PRODUCTIONS OVER THE YEARS AND 8,000 JOBS.
SO, UM, BEING THAT AUSTIN STUDIOS IS GOING TO BE ADJACENT TO AFS CREATIVE CAREERS.
WE'RE HOPING THAT AS WE DEVELOP A PIPELINE, UM, OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SKILLED THAT'S, UM, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO GET IN ON SOME OF THOSE GOOD PAYING JOBS, UM, WITH THE, WITH THE FILM INDUSTRY.
UM, SO OUR PROGRAMS, WE ALSO DO FILMMAKER SUPPORT PROGRAMS AND THESE PROGRAMS, AND THESE FACILITIES ALL WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE THIS STRONG ECOSYSTEM.
UM, I'M JUST GOING TO FOREGROUND THREE OUT OF OUR NINE OBJECTIVES
[01:10:01]
THAT ARE, I THINK ARE THE MOST RELEVANT TONIGHT.SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THE FIRST, UM, OBJECTIVE THAT I WANT TO FOREGROUND IS THAT AFS HAS THE OBJECTIVE TO BE A BEACON FOR CREATIVITY, ARTISTIC PRACTICE, AND SELF-EXPRESSION PROVIDING CREATORS WITH EQUITABLE ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENRICHMENT AND ADVANCE ADVANCEMENT AND CREATIVE COMMUNITY BUILDING.
SO WE, WE WANT TO, UM, THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE FILMMAKERS SUPPORT PROGRAMS AND THE CLASSES AND EQUIPMENT THAT WE PROVIDE AT AUSTIN PUBLIC.
UM, SO AS WE RECRUIT AND TRAIN PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITY INTO THESE CAREERS, THE FACT OF BEING ABLE TO, UM, CONSIDER SELF-EXPRESSION AS WELL AS A CAREER PATH, UM, CREATES MORE OF THAT ECOSYSTEM FOR A LIFELONG PARTICIPATION IN FILM AND THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, WE WANT AUSTIN TO BE A PLACE WHERE MEDIA CREATORS CAN THRIVE THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREER.
SO WE, SO IT'S OUR INTENT TO CONTINUE TO CAPITALIZE AUSTIN AND TEXAS INDUSTRY INTO A PLACE THAT CAN BE A CAREER LONG HOME FOR CREATIVES, UM, AND THE, WHAT WE DO AT AUSTIN STUDIOS.
AND, UH, THE CLASSES THAT WE TEACH AT AT AUSTIN PUBLIC, UM, ARE, ARE INDEED PART OF THAT SUITE OF PROGRAMS. THE LAST OBJECTIVE I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU IS OUR, IS THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND THIS IS, UM, OUR INSTITUTION-WIDE COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AND BELONGING AND FOSTERING AN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE THAT PRIORITIZES ACCESS, OWNERSHIP, AND ENGAGEMENT.
UM, WE ALIGNED FULLY WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAM.
THAT'S OUT OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTS, UM, IN RECOGNIZING THAT RACE IS THE KEY INDICATOR FOR QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES IN OUR CITY.
SO WE JOIN THE CITY AND, UM, PRIORITIZING DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
UM, THE ORGANIZATION HAS REACHED A FEW MILESTONES IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
WE'VE COMPLETED OUR FIRST EQUITY AUDIT THAT WE'VE EVER DONE.
AND IN THE SUMMER OF 2020, AND THAT PROVIDED US WITH SOME INSIGHTS, BOTH IN AREAS WHERE AFS HAS STRENGTHS AND AREAS WHERE WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOME IMPROVEMENT AND WE'VE INCORPORATED THE FINDINGS OF THE EQUITY EQUITY AUDIT INTO OUR FIVE-YEAR PLAN.
UM, WE'VE, WE, UH, WE DEVELOPED AN EQUITY LENS SO THAT OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM, UM, HAS THAT TO LOOK THROUGH WHEN WE'RE DOING DECISION-MAKING, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED MORE EQUITABLE HIRING PRACTICES.
AND BY THE WAY, WE, UM, WE JUST POSTED A JOB FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER, AND WE'VE GOT, UM, SOME, SOME OTHER EXCITING JOBS COMING UP.
SO, UM, OUR JOB AVAILABILITY IS ALL LISTED ON OUR WEBSITE UNDER THE ABOUT SECTION.
AND WE WOULD LOVE TO GET THE WORD OUT THAT WE'VE GOT THIS, THIS NEW POSITION.
UM, WE FORMED A STAFF DEI COMMITTEE AND WE'VE DONE SEVERAL TRAININGS FOR STAFF AND BOARD.
SO WE CONTINUE TO BE VERY EXCITED ABOUT GOING DOWN THIS PATH AND, AND, YOU KNOW, HAVE THIS LIFELONG JOURNEY AND REALLY SUPPORTING THE CITY AND ITS PROGRESS, UM, LONG OVERDUE TOWARDS EQUITY.
UM, SO THE EXPANDED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IS A SIGNIFICANT ADDITION TO OUR PUBLIC ASSET ACCESS OFFERINGS, AND, UM, IT'LL HELP US ACHIEVE SOME GREAT OUTCOMES OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND I NOW WANT TO TURN IT OVER TO MAKITA TO TELL YOU, UM, THE PROGRESS THAT'S BEEN MADE WITH THIS NEW PROGRAM.
UM, SO I AM HAPPY TO BE HERE TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THIS PROGRAM.
UM, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND GO INTO THE NEXT SLIDE.
I THINK, I THINK IT SHOULD BE A TITLE SLIDE.
SO YEAH, SO, UM, THE AFS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED, UM, IN NOVEMBER OF 2021, UH, WITH FIVE PARTICIPANTS AND, UM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GOODWILL AND I JOINED AFS SHORTLY AFTER THAT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE COMMUNITY OF DIRECTOR, THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY EDUCATION.
AND, UM, I HAVE, UH, A BACKGROUND I'VE WORKED IN FILM AND TELEVISION FOR OVER 20 YEARS, AND I'VE ALSO WORKED IN EDUCATION.
SO I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE I'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BENEFITS WHEN YOU HAVE PROGRAMS LIKE THIS, TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT PEOPLE AND GETTING INTO THEIR CAREERS.
SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO THE PROGRAM, UM, SERVES UNDERREPRESENTED UNDERREPRESENTED CREATIVES, UH, WHO ARE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN ABOUT THE INDUSTRY AND TO CREATE THEIR OWN PLACE IN IT.
SO THE PROGRAM HAS THREE PATHWAYS AND THE GROUP, THE PHOTO THAT YOU SEE HERE IS OUR FIRST GROUP, AND THEY'RE DOING THE INTERNSHIP PATHWAY AND THE INTERNSHIP PATHWAY IS OPEN TO 18 AND 24
[01:15:01]
YEAR OLDS.AND IT ALLOWS THEM TO GET SOME WORK EXPERIENCE IN PLACES THEN WITHIN A DEPARTMENT IN AFS.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE CURRENTLY IN, UH, THIS PHASE OF THE PROGRAM AND REALLY GETTING A LOT OUT OF IT.
THERE'S ALSO, UM, ANOTHER PATHWAY, WHICH WE'RE CALLING THE JOB SHADOW, UM, PATHWAY.
AND IT'S FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPERIENCE, BUT NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE SUPPORT, A LITTLE BIT MORE TRAINING AND, UM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE EMPLOYABLE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE THE CONTINUING EDUCATION PATHWAY AND THAT W THAT'S, UM, COURSES THAT ANYONE THAT'S 18 AND OVER IN THE COMMUNITY CAN TAKE.
AND IT'S SIMILAR TO OUR PRODUCER PROGRAM THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
AND IT'S FOR PEOPLE THAT MAY WANT TO PIVOT IN THEIR CAREER, OR MAYBE THEY WANT TO GET A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPERIENCE IN WHAT THEY'RE ALREADY DOING, GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO HERE'S THE, UM, KIND OF A BREAKDOWN OF THE DIFFERENT PHASES WITHIN, UM, A PATHWAY.
SO, UH, THE PATHWAY ONE THAT A CURRENT GROUP IS IN THE INTERNSHIP PATHWAY.
UM, THERE, THE PHASE ONE PART OF IT BASICALLY EQUIPS THEM WITH OFFICE BASICS, UM, OFFICE ETIQUETTE, UM, COMPUTER BASIC SKILLS WORKSHOPS IN COURSES, TECHNICAL COURSES THAT THEY CAN TAKE.
UH, PHASE TWO IS THE DEPARTMENT INTERNSHIP THAT I JUST SPOKE ABOUT.
AND PHASE THREE IS, UM, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
AND, UM, THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK ON THEIR PORTFOLIOS TO REALLY, UM, WORK ON THEIR RESUMES AND PREPARE FOR INTERVIEWS AND THINGS OF THAT SUCH, AND THEN A FINAL CELEBRATION.
SO WE ALSO HAVE WORKSHOPS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN CONVERSATIONS.
SO THIS IS A PHOTO, UH, WITH ONE OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS, KAT CANDLER.
WHO'S ALSO A WRITER PRODUCER DIRECTOR, AND, UH, SHE WAS IN TOWN AND WAS ABLE TO COME AND TALK OUR TRAINEES AND, YOU KNOW, UM, TALK ABOUT HER PATH AND ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS.
AND IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO JUST LEARN AND, UM, ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BUSINESS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE SUPER INSPIRED AND TO MEET SOME OF OUR TRAINEES.
SO ONE OF THE TRAINEES KAYLA, UM, IS YOU SEE AN IMAGE OF HER AND SHE'S WORKING WITH ANOTHER TRAINEE AS THEY PREPARE THEIR S A D THEY'RE PREPARING TO DIRECT A SCENE AND A QUOTE FROM HER.
SHE SAYS, THIS PROGRAM CHANGES LIVES, AND I CAME FROM NOTHING.
IT WOULD NEVER HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THIS ONE.
AND FOR ME, KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
SO THIS PROGRAM IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR ACCESS CONNECTIONS, AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY TO PROVIDE PEOPLE WITH THE TOOLS THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY NEED.
AND, YOU KNOW, TO REALLY HELP WITH SOME OF THOSE BARRIERS.
AND KAYLA IS SHOWS UP, YOU KNOW, EXCITED AND JUST READY TO LEARN.
SHE'S INTERESTED IN, UM, SPECIAL EFFECTS AND MAKEUP ALSO THAT, SO QUINCY IS ANOTHER CHENEY AND, UM, THIS IS AN IMAGE OF HIM WORKING WITH SOME OF OUR STAFF, AND HE SAYS THAT THE STAFF IS DOING A GOOD JOB, AND EVERYONE SEEMS NICE.
I'M ENJOYING EDITING IN THE PROGRAM HAS BEEN A FUN EXPERIENCE SO FAR.
SO HE IS OPEN TO LEARNING ABOUT A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND HE'S CURRENTLY DOING HIS INTERNSHIP IN THE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND LEARNING ABOUT FUNDRAISING AND RELATIONSHIP BUILDING AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UH, THIS IS AN IMAGE OF JEN WHO'S PICTURED ON THE LEFT SIDE, WORKING WITH KAYLA TO DIRECT HER SCENE.
AND, UH, JEN HAS EXPERIENCED IN GRAPHIC DESIGN AND SHE SAYS, I'VE ENJOYED LEARNING ABOUT THE CAMERAS, THE ASSIGNMENTS, AND WORKING WITH THE TEAM.
AND I'M NOW MORE OPEN-MINDED ABOUT IT ALL WHEN SHE CAME IN, UM, SOME OF THE AREAS WERE A LITTLE INTIMIDATING FOR HER, SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, LEARNING ABOUT AUDIO AND, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE TECHNICAL GEAR, BUT NOW THAT SHE'S GOTTEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET HER HANDS ON IT AND TO BE ABLE TO, UM, JUST REALLY LEARN MORE, SHE WANTS SHE'S OPEN-MINDED AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY WANTS TO TAKE IT ALL IN, IN ADDITION TO I'M ENHANCING HER GRAPHIC DESIGN SKILLS.
UH, ALICIA IS ANOTHER TRAINEE THAT WE HAVE AND ALICIA IS INTERESTED IN, UH, REALLY JUST EXPRESSING HER CREATIVITY.
AND SHE SAYS, I LOVE DANCE, ART, MUSIC SELF-EXPRESSION.
MY GOAL IS TO LEARN AS MUCH AS I CAN TO EXPRESS MY CREATIVITY.
SO THIS IS HER IN THE CONTROL ROOM, UM, WORKING, UM, ON THE HISTORY OF TELEVISION, UM, A PROGRAM THAT WE WERE DOING.
SO SHE SHOWS UP WHENEVER THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER, UH, TO TAKE COURSES.
[01:20:01]
AND, UM, SHE'S CURRENTLY, UH, SERVING AS AN INTERN IN THE COMMUNITY MEDIA DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS US, AND SHE'S TAKING THE LEAD ON A VIDEO TO PROMOTE THE PROGRAM.SO SHE WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE AS THE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, AND TO WORK WITH THE OTHER TRAINEES IN THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS TO PULL THEM IN, IN DIFFERENT ROLES.
SO THIS GIVES THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO COLLABORATE, TO REALLY STRENGTHEN THOSE SKILLS AND TO REALLY, YOU KNOW, HAVE A GOOD TIME AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM AND TO SERVE AS AMBASSADORS, ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OH, UH, ANOTHER NOTE TO MENTION.
SO THEY'RE OUR FIRST PILOT GROUP AND WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING, PREPARING TO OPEN UP APPLICATIONS TO ACCEPT ANOTHER COHORT IN AND TO OPEN UP THE OTHER PATHWAYS.
SO WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING PATHWAY ONE, SO WE'RE GEARING UP AND PREPARING FOR, UM, TO HAVE ALL THREE PATHWAYS AND TO HAVE A LARGER GROUP.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
I THINK YOU MIGHT'VE JUST ANSWERED ONE OF MY QUESTIONS OFF THE TOP THERE, BUT I WANT TO SAY THAT, UH, IT'S IMPRESSIVE.
GREAT TO GET A LOOK AT THE TRAINEES AND THE PLANS THAT YOU HAVE HERE.
UH, MY QUESTION WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE ROADMAPPING, UH, OF THE, OF THE OTHER PATHWAYS.
AND IF YOU HAD AN IDEA ABOUT, UH, WHAT KIND OF CADENCE YOU'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT FOR THOSE, IF, IF YOU'RE KIND OF LOOKING AT A SIMILAR CADENCE FOR THEM ALL, OR IF YOU HAD SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN MIND, THAT WAS MY FIRST QUESTION.
SO, UM, DEFINITELY, UM, THE T TWO OF THE PATHWAYS PATHWAY ONE AND TWO, LOOKING AT HAVING THREE PHASES, UM, AND, UM, OPENING UP THE APPLICATION TWICE A YEAR, UM, TO HAVE A SPRING AND A FALL APPLICATION TO OPEN UP, UM, TO PARTICIPANTS AND HAVE THEM APPLY FOR THE PATH, UH, THE PATHWAY THAT BEST MATCHES, YOU KNOW, THEIR GOALS AND THEIR EXPERIENCE AND THEIR NEEDS.
I GUESS THE, THAT DOES ANSWER MY QUESTION.
AND I'M REALLY CURIOUS, TOO, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT THE VERS POPULATIONS YOU'RE SERVING WITH THESE PATHWAYS, UH, WHAT KIND OF RESEARCH INFORMED YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS ON HOW TO DEVELOP THESE SPECIFIC ONES? SO THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A RESEARCH THAT WAS DONE BEFORE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH, UM, A CONSULTANT FROM NOVAK, UM, AND NOVAK IS, UM, A WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, UM, OUT OF, UH, LOUISIANA.
AND, UM, SO BEFORE I JOINED, THERE WAS, UM, A LOT OF RESEARCH AND CONSULTING THAT WAS DONE WITH THEM.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I JOINED, I JUST KIND OF BROUGHT MY EXPERIENCE THAT I HAVE IN, UM, HAVING WORKED WITH OTHER PROGRAMS AND, UM, WORKED IN, YOU KNOW, EDUCATION IN AND THINGS LIKE THAT TO, TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP.
AND WHAT WAS THE RESEARCH THAT WAS ALREADY DONE? THAT'S WONDERFUL FROM MY PART, THEN THE ONLY QUESTION I HAVE LEFT BEFORE I PASS IT OFF TO MY COLLEAGUES IS IF WE CAN HAVE YOU GUYS COME JOIN US IN A WORKING GROUP SESSION, SO WE CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE AND IDEATE ABOUT SOME DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES OF HOW WE CAN WORK TO SUPPORT AUSTIN PUBLIC AS A COMMISSION, EVEN MORE AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY.
UH, LET ME PASS IT TO MY PEERS.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK? OKAY.
UH, ONLINE, WE HAVE A COMMISSION ISLAND.
UH, YES, PLEASE GO RIGHT AHEAD.
THAT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.
I'M CURIOUS WHAT THE SELECTION PROCESS IS FOR THE APPLICANTS AND HOW ARE WE COMMUNICATING OUT ABOUT THE PROGRAM? SO WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF, UH, PULLING TOGETHER THE MARKETING FOR THE PROGRAM.
AND THAT INCLUDES, UM, UH, THE PROMO VIDEO THAT I JUST MENTIONED, UH, THE TRAINEES ARE WORKING ON, UM, AND THEY'RE WORKING WITH, UM, MENTORS.
SO THEY'RE, THEY HAVE, UM, PROFESSIONALS INCLUDING US THAT ARE GUIDING THEM THROUGH PUTTING THAT TOGETHER.
UM, WE ARE ALSO, UM, WORKING WITH OUR MARKETING TEAM TO, UM, PUT TOGETHER AND CONSULTANTS TO PUT TOGETHER A WEB PAGE.
SO, UM, THE INFORMATION WILL BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AND THERE WILL BE AN APPLICATION THAT WILL KIND OF OUTLINE THE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS IN THE OPTIONS.
AND IT'LL ALSO LIST, YOU KNOW, THE REQUIREMENTS, UM, SO THAT, UM, ANYONE THAT'S INTERESTED CAN GET A GOOD IDEA OF WHERE THEY MAY FIT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IF THEY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE'LL DEFINITELY KIND OF ADD INFORMATION OR HAVE INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE TO REACH OUT TO US.
UM, AND WE ALSO WANT TO DEVELOP A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN.
IN ADDITION TO ME, REALLY JUST TOUCHING THE COMMUNITY AND GOING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND, UM, CONNECTING WITH CONTACTS THAT WORK WITH, UM, POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS.
[01:25:02]
I, I'M JUST GOING TO ADD THAT, UM, RICK HITA IS EVENTUALLY GOING TO HAVE, UM, A DEPARTMENT OF HERSELF IN THREE OTHERS.AND RIGHT NOW ALL SHE HAS IS HERSELF AND A PART-TIME PERSON.
SO THE AMOUNT OF PROGRESS THAT'S BEEN MADE IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS IS ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING.
AND, UM, I'M ALSO REALLY THRILLED THAT WE WERE ABLE TO FIND, UM, SOMEBODY WHO IS BOTH DEEPLY CONNECTED IN THE FILM INDUSTRY AND SERVES AS A MENTOR TO OTHER, UM, TRAINEES AND ALSO HAS AN EDUCATION BACKGROUND.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY LUCKY AS A COMMUNITY, UM, THAT WE'VE GOT RICOTTA IN CHARGE OF THIS, AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME GREAT, UM, OTHER JOBS OPENING UP.
YEAH, THIS, THIS MAKES ME REALLY PROUD TO BE A PART OF THIS BECAUSE IT'S WORK THAT I'VE DONE JUST BECAUSE I ENJOY DOING IT.
AND I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, REALLY, TO DO IT IN SERVE AUSTIN AND IN THE COMMUNITY.
THERE'S LIKE I MENTIONED, THERE'S SUCH A NEED FOR IT.
AND I'M, I'M SO HAPPY THAT AFS IN THE CITY, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE A PART OF THIS.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP, BOTH OF YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS, AND WELCOME TO AUSTIN PUBLIC, RICKY THEM.
THEN I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION.
LOOK FORWARD AGAIN TO THAT IMITATION.
WE'LL BE MEETING HERE WITHIN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, I BELIEVE.
SO WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO HOPEFULLY HAVING YOU COME JOIN US THEN.
ALL RIGHT, THEN WE'LL PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA NOW TO AGENDA ITEM THREE NEW
[3.a. Selection of the 2022 GTOPs Core Review Panel (Commission Discussion and Action)]
BUSINESS, THE SELECTION OF THE 2022 G TOPS CORE REVIEW PANEL, AS YOU ALL KNOW, UH, WE HAD, AFTER OUR, WE HAD A TALLY AND WE HAD TO TABLE THIS REVIEW AND WE AGREED TO DO A RANKED VOTING PROCESS TO MAKE THIS MORE STREAMLINED AND SIMPLER.WE WERE GIVEN THESE A FEW DAYS IN ADVANCE, SOME OF THEM, OF COURSE, AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALREADY HAD SINCE OUR LAST MEETING.
SO I'M HOPING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS PROCESS PRETTY EFFICIENTLY, JESSE.
I'M SURE HE HAS SOMETHING IN MIND AS FAR AS HOW HE WANTS TO HANDLE THE TALLYING.
SO I'LL LET HIM TAKE IT FROM HERE.
UH, JUST A COUPLE OF NOTES TO UPDATE Y'ALL SINCE THE LAST TIME OR SINCE LAST MONTH, WHEN THESE WERE ORIGINALLY PRESENTED, THERE WERE THREE ADDITIONAL APPLICANTS THAT WERE ADDED TO THE LIST.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO MENTION THAT, UH, ALL APPLICANTS IN ELIGIBLE ZIP CODES WERE INCLUDED.
UH, SO W THERE ARE TWO APPLICANTS, ONE FROM, UH, THE HILLS AND ONE FROM BUDA, UH, ON, ON THE LIST, BUT THE ZIP CODES THAT THEY LIVE IN DO HAVE ELIGIBLE CITY OF AUSTIN AREAS.
AND SO I, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH, UH, I DON'T HAVE PRECISE ENOUGH DATA TO SAY IF THERE ARE SPECIFIC ADDRESSES WITHIN OR WITHOUT THE CITIES, UH, BOUNDS, BUT THERE'S ZIP CODES ARE WITHIN, UH, YOU KNOW, THE CITY'S, UH, LIMITS.
UM, SO THERE, UH, COMMISSIONER APODACA MENTIONED SOMETHING EARLIER THAT MADE ME WANT TO HAVE AN ASTERISK.
IT'S ALWAYS POSSIBLE FOR APPLICANTS TO DROP OUT OF THE PROCESS IN BETWEEN THE TIME THAT THE APPOINTMENTS ARE MADE, UH, BY THE COMMISSION.
AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, ME REACHING OUT TO THEM TO CONFIRM THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE EVENT THAT, THAT DID OCCUR.
I WOULD JUST KIND OF GO DOWN THE LIST WITH, YOU KNOW, THE NEXT HIGHEST SCORING APPLICANT TO, TO FILL THAT.
SO, UM, THIS RANKED CHOICE VOTING PROCESS WILL HELP US TO GET, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT FULL PANEL, UM, YOU KNOW, AS AN, AS AN OUTCOME OF THIS.
SO WITH THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A SPREADSHEET ON MY COMPUTER OVER HERE.
SO, UH, WHAT I WOULD REQUEST IS AS YOU COMPLETE YOUR, YOUR RANKING, JUST LET ME KNOW, YOU KNOW, AND CALL OUT YOUR SCORES TO ME, UM, FROM APPLICANT APPLICANT ONE ON, AND I'LL ENTER YOUR, YOUR RANKS IN, INTO MY SPREADSHEET.
UM, THE LOWEST, UH, YOU KNOW, SINCE, UH, THE, THE WAY THAT IT'LL CALCULATE ON THE SPREADSHEET IS THAT WHOEVER HAS THE LOWEST, UM, UH, CUMULATIVE SCORE IS THE HIGHEST RANKING.
SO I, YOU KNOW, I HAVE, I HAVE IT OVER HERE ON MY SPREADSHEET AND WE'LL LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW IT ALL CALCULATES OUT.
SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, THEN WE'RE GOING TO GO ONE BY ONE AND GIVE YOU OUR SCORES FOR EACH APPLICANT, AND WE'RE GOING TO BE CLEAR TO NOT NAME THEIR NAMES.
WE'RE GOING TO LIST THE ANONYMOUS APPLICANT NUMBER AND THE RANKING.
SO I THINK THERE MIGHT BE A QUESTION, UH, COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA.
YEAH, I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION.
WHERE IS THE DOCUMENT? UM, IS IT IN,
[01:30:03]
THAT'S IN THE MEETING ATTACHMENTS? SO THERE'S A SEPARATE MESSAGE THAT SAYS MEETING DOCUMENTS.OH, MEETING DOCUMENTATION IS DOCUMENTATION, CORRECT.
SO WHEN WE DO RANKED, UH, HOW MANY, UH, HOW MANY APPLICANTS DO WE, SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UH, WE HAVE A TOTAL OF 11 APPLICANTS.
DO WE CHOOSE? WE'RE GOING TO RANK THEM ALL 1, 2 11.
ONE TO 11, WHOEVER HAS THE LOWEST SCORES WHEN WE'RE DONE THE SEVEN WITH THE LOWEST SCORES, WE, THE ONES CHOSEN.
AND THEN AS JESSE EXPLAINED, WE'LL THEN HAVE BACKUPS AS WELL, BASED UPON THEIR RANKING.
DOES THAT, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO EVERYONE? SO, SO JUST TO CONFIRM, ONE IS OUR FIRST CHOICE.
THE, THE, THE BLUE RIBBON ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE, UH, W WHATEVER COLOR IS THE LAST COLOR.
UM, COULD I ASK JUST MAYBE LIKE A QUICK, UH, INPUT FROM SOMEONE WHO'S PARTICIPATED IN THIS BEFORE, WHAT THEY FEEL HAS BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL CHARACTERISTICS OR QUALITIES OF SOMEONE WHO'S, UH, UH, BEEN IN THE PROGRAM GLADLY, GLADLY, I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU MY PERSPECTIVE AND THAT LIKE, TO, IF I CAN, AND PARTS, THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW WHO'S ACTUALLY BEEN ON THE PANEL, IT SHOULD BE SO KIND TO SHARE HER PERSPECTIVE AS WELL.
SO FOR, IN FACT, LET ME, LET HER GO FIRST, PLEASE.
YOU SHARE YOUR PERSPECTIVE FIRST COMMISSIONER THOMPSON, BEAVERS.
I THINK THAT ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING, OR ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERISTICS WERE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD SOME TYPE OF INTERACTION EITHER WITH, ARE S WITH WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITIES THAT NONPROFITS TYPICALLY WILL SERVE.
AND SO, UM, I FELT THAT ALSO SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO, UM, HAD ONLY INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE CONTEXTUAL EXPERIENCE TO REALLY BE ABLE TO RELATE TO THE, UM, PEOPLE WHO WERE COMING TO PRESENT.
SO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ASKING, ACTUALLY ASKING FOR THE FUNDING.
SO TO ME, THAT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, MAYBE MORE SO IMPORTANT THAN HAVING A BEAUTIFUL RESUME.
YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S GREAT INSIGHT.
UH, AND I WOULD AGREE WITH ALL THOSE INSIGHTS AND IN PURELY AD, UH, VOLUNTEERISM IS A BIG SPIRIT OF THIS SINCE CLEARLY, THIS IS A VOLUNTEER EFFORT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE ASKING THESE INDIVIDUALS TO READ THROUGH A LOT OF INFORMATION.
UM, AND SO AS SOMEONE WHO HAS GOTTEN A SENSE YEAR OVER YEAR, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DONE THEIR HOMEWORK AND THOSE WHO HAVE NOT, UM, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, TO REALLY CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO DO THIS ON THEIR OWN TIME.
AND SO THOSE WHO HAVE PUT IN THAT KIND OF TIME, UH, DEMONSTRATE THAT KIND OF RESOLVE, I THINK, IN THEIR OWN PRIVATE LIVES FROM, FROM MY EXPERIENCE.
SO W I GUESS I SHOULD ASK WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IS ESSENTIALLY A RANK ORDERING OF ALL THESE CANDIDATES.
PRECISELY, PRECISELY AS SOON AS, UH, WE'RE READY.
I THINK I KNOW THAT I'M READY TO GO JUST ABOUT, UH, I I'D LIKE TO MAYBE GET A SENSE OF THE ROOM.
PEOPLE COULD LET ME KNOW HOW THEY'RE, HOW THEY'RE DOING.
SO WE'RE GOING TO GIVE US A FEW MORE MINUTES AND JESSE, I WENT AHEAD AND EMAILED YOU SINCE I HAVE A SCREAMING CHILD.
COMMISSIONER ISLAND, HAVE YOUR RESULTS HERE.
[01:35:10]
WOULD THAT ACTUALLY BE THE BEST WAY FOR ALL THE COMMISSIONERS TO, UH, EMAIL? OR CAN WE DO THAT NOW? I GUESS THAT EVERYONE HAS THEIR, UH, IT WOULD JUST PUT A, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT, I LEAVE THAT TO JESSE TO DECIDE SINCE HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO THE TELLING YOU THE WAY I THINK THAT EITHER WAY, HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO READ IT INTO THE RECORD.SO IF WE DO IT FOR, SO, UM, I CAN WORK WITH WHATEVER'S CONVENIENT FOR Y'ALL, UH, THAT THE THING THAT WOULD BE EASIEST FOR ME TO ENTER DATA INTO THE SPREADSHEET WOULD BE IF, IF YOU JUST VERBALIZED FROM APPLICANT ONE ON, THROUGH 11, WHAT THE RANKINGS ARE, BUT I CAN CERTAINLY WORK WITH WHATEVER'S NEEDED.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, UH, I THINK HE'S SUGGESTING IF SOMEONE HAS A PREFERENCE, SO WE'LL JUST ALLOW A FEW MORE MINUTES HERE.
AND, AND I GUESS I DO WANT TO KIND OF GET A SENSE OF THAT FROM A CONSENSUS STANDPOINT, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE ANYONE THAT HAS STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT, UH, WHETHER OR NOT WE DO THAT VERBALLY, OR, UH, ALTHOUGH MY LEANING IS WHATEVER'S MORE CAN MEAN FOR JESSE, JUST TO BE CLEAR.
I JUST WANT TO CHECK IN, SEE HOW WE'RE DOING IN THE ROOM, LOOKING AROUND TO SEE OUR BODY'S DOING CHEMISTRY GATES.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE STILL WRAPPING UP HERE.
I'M TRYING TO GIVE US A FEW MORE MINUTES.
I'LL MAKE ANDROGENS, DO WE HAVE 11 LIVERPOOL MOUTH? I AM.
I'M READING UP ON SEVEN SO FAR.
NOW ONE THING IS, SINCE WE'RE STILL WAITING HERE, UH, JESSE, HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HOW THE TALLY, WELL, I GUESS WE'LL RELY ON, UH, A DEGREE COURSE OF HONOR, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE STOPPED TELLING AT A CERTAIN POINT.
UH, BUT MY THOUGHT IS HOW PEOPLE'S SHARING MIGHT AFFECT OTHERS.
I THINK WE AGREE THAT WE JUST ALL AGREE TO STOP TALING THEN, AND THEN GIVE YOU WHAT WE HAVE AT THAT POINT THAT WE WE'RE NOT INFLUENCED BY EACH OTHER'S.
AND THAT, THAT WORKS FOR ME, FOR SURE.
OTHERWISE THAT MIGHT LEND SOME CREDENCE TO THE VALUE OF ASSAULT, EMAILING THEM, BUT IF THAT'S FINE WITH YOU, THEN WE'LL DO THAT.
SO ARE WE GOING TO NEED TO HAVE A MECHANISM FOR RESOLVING THAI? WELL, THAT'LL DEPEND UPON HOW THE TALLIES GO.
UH, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY, UH, WE DON'T ALL HAVE THE EXACT SAME, WELL, WE ALL HAVE THE EXACT SAME SCORES, THEN IT SHOULD BE SIMPLE, BUT IF WE ALL BALANCE TO THEIR OUT, THEN IT'S GOING TO BE A LITTLE WONKY.
[01:41:50]
OKAY.HOW ARE WE DOING ONLINE THERE GUYS? LAURA WAS THERE.
YOU KNOW, JUST OCCURRED TO ME, UH, FOR EVERYONE WHO'S GOT OTHER SCORES ALREADY CALCULATED.
IF YOU COULD JUST GO AHEAD AND MAKE NOTE OF THEM ON YOUR, ON YOUR APPLICANT FORM.
UM, IF YOU FEEL YOU CAN DO THAT EASILY, THEN WE'LL JUST HAND THOSE TO JESSE.
I'M GOING TO I'M PERSONALLY, I HAVE ENOUGH SEATS OF PAPER TO GIVE EVERYONE A SHEET OF TABLE ON ONE.
UH, I'M JUST GOING TO HAND THEM A PIECE OF PAPER WITH NUMBERS AND RANKINGS, AND IF Y'ALL WOULD MAKE SURE THAT IT REFERENCES WHO YOU ARE.
I'M SENDING A NEW NOTE TO JESSE OKAY.
JESSE, I JUST SENT YOU A FRESH NOTE WITH MY RANK ORDER OF CHOICES BY THE NUMBER OF THE CANDIDATES.
[01:45:18]
UH, YES.WE'RE GOOD COMMISSION TO ASK IT TOO.
WE'LL LET YOU KNOW IF WE DIDN'T HAVE IN TROUBLE.
[01:53:28]
COMMISSIONER RAMOS.I DON'T THINK I HAVE ANYTHING FROM YOU, JESSE.
DID YOU RECEIVE MINE? I DO HAVE YOURS.
THE COMMISSIONER JUST SCOOPED UP.
SO ARE YOU THERE? AH, YES, WE CAN GO AND PROCEED.
[01:55:05]
YEAH, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MAKE SURE WE GOT THE QUORUM IN THE ROOM, WHICH GIVES A CRUSHER RAMOS A LITTLE TIME.IF SHE WANTS TO CHIME IN OKAY.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE WE'RE REASSEMBLED HERE, JESSE.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE ALL REASSEMBLED AND THE SCORING IS COMPLETE, UM, WITH ALL OF THE SCORES IN THE TOP SEVEN CANDIDATES IN ORDER OUR APPLICANT SEVEN APPLICANT, FIVE APPLICANT, THREE APPLICANT, 11 APPLICANT, 10 APPLICANT NINE AND APPLICANT EIGHT.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, THOUGH, THOSE ARE THE SEVEN THAT I WOULD PROPOSE TO THE COMMISSION TO SERVE ON THE PANEL.
UH, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND PROPOSE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE APPLICANT'S LISTED BASED UPON THE NUMBERED RANKING THAT WE ALL PROVIDED.
UH, DO I HAVE A SECOND? I SECOND GOT A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA WITH THAT THEN ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE RANKING AS JESSE JUST STATED BASED ON OUR RENT VOTING, PLEASE SAY AYE.
THEN WE ARE UNANIMOUS IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE PANEL AND G TOPS GOES ON THANKS TO OUR MIGHTY VOLUNTEERS.
THEN WE'LL PROCEED WITH OUR AGENDA.
[3.b. Commission Discussion on FY 2023 Budget Priorities (Commission discussion and possible action)]
ITEM IS THREE B COMMISSION DISCUSSION ON FYI 2023 BUDGET PRIORITIES.NOW I HAVE PULLED UP OUR PRIOR BUDGETARY PRIORITIES BECAUSE THERE ARE SEVERAL THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED IN THE WORDING OF SESSIONS.
WE NEED TO PUT UP AGAIN, POTENTIALLY, UH, AND TO BE CLEAR, THE REASON WHY THIS IS A PRIORITY NOW, MORE SO THAN EVER IS BECAUSE WE'RE REQUIRED TO HAVE OUR SUBMISSIONS IN BY MARCH 22ND.
SO IT MEANS THAT THIS IS OUR, THIS IS OUR FIRST ON THE RECORD MEETING.
WE'LL HAVE ONE MORE MEETING ON THE RECORD AND THEN ANY WORK GROUP MEETINGS IN BETWEEN NOW, AND THEN TO AGREE ABOUT WHAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BE IDEALLY TO THEN VOTE ON THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS IN OUR MARCH MEETING.
SO WITH THAT, I DID ACTUALLY, UH, PRESENT A SMALL INQUIRY TO JESSE, TO PERHAPS INQUIRE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT NEEDED TO BE COVERED, UH, FROM A TERRORIST STANDPOINT, AFTER HIS DISCUSSION WITH RHONDELLA THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO DISCUSS IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS TODAY.
I KNOW THAT, UH, I WANT TO MAKE SURE TO GIVE JESSE A CHANCE TO SPEAK TO THAT.
IF THERE WAS ANYTHING YOU WANT TO SHARE, UH, YES, CHAIR PITS.
UM, THERE'S A NUMBER OF ITEMS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE PROPOSING TO THE COMMISSION FOR SUPPORT.
HOWEVER, UH, WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE THEM FINALIZED UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING, BUT I'LL GO AHEAD AND KIND OF GIVE A QUICK OVERVIEW, UH, OF THEM TODAY.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE FORMAL PROPOSAL FOR Y'ALL, UH, READY FOR THE NEXT MEETING.
SO THE FIRST ITEM IS, UM, WE HAD SPEAKERS FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC TODAY, UH, THAT IS A CONTRACT THAT IS SUPPORTED WITHIN TARA.
UM, A NUANCE OF THAT CONTRACT IS THAT, UH, $400,000 IN ARPA FUNDING SUPPORTS THE TOTAL PROGRAM BUDGET OF $875,000 THIS YEAR.
[02:00:01]
YEAR OF FUNDING AND NEXT YEAR IT GOES AWAY.SO, UH, WE WILL LIKELY BE ASKING THE COMMISSION FOR SUPPORT TO, UH, KIND OF TAKE OVER THE ARPA FUNDS PORTION OF THAT CONTRACT, UH, PLUS A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO, UM, ARPA FUNDS $400,000, BUT THERE WAS AN ADDITIONAL $50,000.
THAT WAS WHAT AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY IS, UH, FINAL BEST PROPOSAL EQUALED.
UM, AND SO WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE UP THE GAP OF THAT $50,000 THAT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO FUND IN YEAR ONE IN, IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS.
SO THAT'S ONE LIKELY PROPOSAL IS AN ADDITIONAL $450,000 IN ANNUAL CONTRIBUTION FOR THAT CONTRACT.
UH, THE, A SECOND ITEM IS THAT WE ARE ACTIVELY LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE CAN SUPPORT INTERNS WITHIN OUR PROGRAM.
UM, SPECIFICALLY, UH, WE WOULD BE LOOKING FOR ONE TECHNOLOGY INTERN TO HELP US GROW AND SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY PC PROGRAM AND POSSIBLY TO OFFER MORE TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO INDIVIDUALS THAT RECEIVE, UH, COMMUNITY PC PROGRAM DEVICES.
UM, WE WOULD ALSO BE LOOKING FOR A GENERAL, UH, PROGRAM INTERN, UM, AND WE WOULD BE HOPING TO BUILD THE, UH, BUILD-OUT CAREER PIPELINES FOR THOSE INTERNS, UH, MOVING INTO, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AND OTHER PARTNERS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE THAT PROPOSAL IS STILL UNDER EVALUATION.
SO, YOU KNOW, I, I, I DON'T HAVE A FINAL, UH, ASK FOR Y'ALL YET ON THAT ONE, BUT, UM, IT, UH, THAT COULD LOOK LIKE $45,000 TO SUPPORT THAT EFFORT, UH, DEPENDING ON HOW, UH, THE EVALUATIONS CONTINUE.
UM, AUSTIN, AUSTIN FREENET IS ANOTHER ONE OF OUR CONTRACTORS THAT PROVIDES DIGITAL LITERACY TRAINING SERVICES AND MAINTAINS COMPUTER LAB LOCATIONS WITHIN THE CITY.
ON BEHALF, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY, THEY HAVE REQUESTED AN ADDITIONAL, UH, SUPPORT FOR THEIR PROGRAMMING TO HELP THEM GROW.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY EVALUATING THEIR BUDGETARY INCREASE.
AUSTIN FREENET IS LIKELY TO REQUEST A PRESENTATION DIRECTLY TO THE COMMISSION FOR IT, FOR THE MARCH MEETING, UH, TO GO OVER THEIR EXISTING PLANS AND TO, TO MAKE, UH, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE THEIR REQUESTS DIRECTLY TO YOU ALL.
UH, WE ARE ALSO EVALUATING THEIR REQUEST INTERNALLY.
UH, AND SO I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION AT THE NEXT MEETING AS WELL.
UM, AND LASTLY, I WOULD LIKE TO FORMALIZE SOME BUDGET TO THE, UH, THE ANNUAL ART COMPETITION THAT WE'VE HAD THIS YEAR.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE, WE BASICALLY JUST PAY FOR THAT OUT OF BUDGET SAVINGS THAT COME AVAILABLE.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A SMALL, UH, PORTION AVAILABLE OR MADE PERMANENT IN OUR BUDGET.
SO SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF $2,000 TO COVER, UH, AWARDS AND PRINTING.
UM, THOSE ARE THE ITEMS THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED THUS FAR.
UM, I'M, I'M NOT GOING TO REQUEST FORMAL ACTION, UH, AT THIS MEETING.
UH, BUT I DID WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL A HEADS UP THAT THOSE PROPOSALS ARE GOING TO BE COMING DOWN THE PIPELINE.
UM, AND AS YOU ALL, SOME THAT HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED PRIOR WE'LL CALL, THESE ARE, UH, STANDING, UH, SOME OF THESE ARE STANDING PRIORITIES, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, THAT ART COMPETITION IT'S ACTUALLY THE, YOU KNOW, THE SECOND YEAR WE'VE DONE IT IN A ROW.
SO IT'S, I THINK WISE FOR US TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE THAT, UH, A LINE ITEM IN THE AGENDA.
UH, BUT WE'LL HAVE TIME TO DELIBERATE OVER THAT.
UH, AND OBVIOUSLY ARRIVE AT A CONSENSUS, ALTHOUGH FROM OUR PART, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT SHOULD BE PRETTY SMOOTH SAILING, I WOULD THINK FOR THOSE PRIORITIES BASED UPON HOW WE'VE, WE'VE, UH, COMPORT OURSELVES IN THE PAST, UH, WITH THAT THOUGH, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND SPEAK TO SOME THAT WE'VE ALSO DISCUSSED IN THE PAST THAT WE'VE DISCUSSED IN WORKING GROUP SESSIONS, UH, THAT WE AGREE WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD WITH AGAIN.
SO ONE OF THE ONES THAT'S BEEN A HOT TOPIC OF COURSE, IS, UH, COUNCIL VOTE TABULATION.
UH, WE'VE SUBMITTED A COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA REQUEST, UH, IN THE PAST LAST YEAR.
AND, UH, SO I THINK WE SHOULD DISCUSS WHETHER OR NOT WE THINK THAT'LL BE VALUABLE TO DO SO AGAIN, UH, OR IF WE SHOULD TAKE A DIFFERENT TACT.
AND BEFORE WE DO THAT, WE MIGHT WANT TO GET SOME INFORMATION FROM JESSE ON ANY KIND OF UPDATES THERE, UH, TO HELP TO INFORM OUR DISCUSSION.
SO I DID POSE THE QUESTION THERE, THERE WAS A, UH, COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA REQUEST THAT WAS PASSED BY THIS COMMISSION, UH, AROUND MIDPOINT OF 2021 IN SUPPORT OF, UH, THAT THE CLERK'S OFFICE BEING ABLE TO, UH, TABULATE COUNCIL VOTES.
[02:05:01]
I ASKED THE, SO THOSE REQUESTS GO TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AND THEN THE MAYOR'S OFFICE WOULD ASSIGN THOSE TO A COUNCIL COMMITTEE.I ASKED THE MAYOR'S OFFICE IF IT HAD BEEN, UH, ASSIGNED TO A COMMITTEE, UH, AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE RECORD OF IT.
AND SO, UH, UH, THIS, THIS COMMUNICATION WAS A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.
UH, IT HAS SINCE BEEN PLACED ON THE AGENDA, OR IT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
UM, SO THERE, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY THAT THAT PROCESS IS GOING TO GET MOVING AGAIN.
UH, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE YET TO HAVE IT PLACED ON AN AGENDA.
UH, QUESTION COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA UH, YES.
I WONDER IF THIS ISN'T THE APPROPRIATE TIME TO, AGAIN, REEMPHASIZE THE ORIGINAL REQUIREMENT THAT WE ARE NOT TRYING TO BOIL THE OCEAN, BUT RATHER WE ARE SAYING THIS SHOULD BE DONE GOING FORWARD, WHICH SHOULD SIGNIFICANTLY SIMPLIFY THE TASK AHEAD.
UH, I THINK YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN.
UM, I THINK TO DIRECTLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT THE RETICENCE IS BASED ON.
UH, SO WE'RE KIND OF GUESSING.
UM, SO I'M HOPING THAT WITH THIS LEVEL OF ADVANCEMENT, WE CAN FIND OUT IF, IF, IF THERE ARE SOME CONCERNS IN A DISCUSSION, UH, OR IN COMMITTEE, UH, WHAT THEY ARE, UH, COMMISSIONER, I GUESS COMMISSIONER GATES HAD IS AT FIRST.
SO IN ADDITION TO OUR AGENDA REQUEST, THERE WAS ACTUALLY A COUNCIL REQUEST FOR VOTE TRACKER.
AND SO THIS SHOULD TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE COMMISSION.
AND SO THE QUESTION IS WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THE COUNCIL REQUEST? UM, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS BEING REALLY SLOW WALKED.
THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION THOUGH.
MAYBE IT'S A GOOD POINT OF FOLLOW-UP.
I THINK THAT IT'S BEEN A SCIENTIST THAT PART OF THE COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT OR NOT, I'M NOT SURE HOW THAT FACTORS IN.
SO WHAT THE UPDATE THAT I GAVE WAS FOR THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA REQUEST, I'M NOT SURE IF COMMISSIONER YATES IS REFERRING TO THE COUNCIL ACTION, THAT WHAT THAT OCCURRED CLOSE TO THE BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS, BUT, UM, UH, IF, IF MEMORY SERVES AND IT HAS BEEN A COUPLE OF YEARS SINCE THE ORIGINAL COUNCIL ACTION, UH, THERE WERE, UH, THERE WERE THREE, THERE WERE A FEW DIFFERENT OPTIONS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL WAS LOOKING FOR THE CLERK'S OFFICE TO EVALUATE, UM, AND, AND ALL OF, ALL OF THE REST OF THIS TRANSPIRED AFTER, AFTER THAT, UH, PROCESS.
UM, SO I, I W I DON'T REALLY HAVE AN UPDATE ON, ON THE COUNCIL PORTION OF THAT OTHER THAN, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY HAD THREE OPTIONS AND TOSSED IT TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
AND THEN THAT'S WHEN THIS COMMISSION DRUM JUMPED IN.
THEY MAY NOT DIRECTLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
SO WHAT IS, WHAT HAS NOW BEEN ADDED TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE IS THAT OUR COMMISSION REQUEST OR THE COUNCIL REQUESTS? OKAY.
IT'S THIS COMMISSION'S, UH, COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA REQUEST.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT REQUEST DID INCLUDE THE CONTEXT OF WHAT HAD TRANSPIRED BEFORE.
AND, UM, WAS THERE ANY RESOLUTION ON THE COUNCIL REQUEST THAT BECAUSE THE CLERK'S OFFICE WAS SUPPOSED TO RESPOND TO COUNSEL WITH THE, THE BEST PRACTICE OR THE, OF THE RECOMMENDATION OF ALL THE OPTIONS? I DON'T KNOW IF THAT EVER HAPPENED.
SO, UH, I, I CAN'T, I, NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT, IT DIDN'T, BUT I, I'M JUST NOT AWARE OF, UH, THE RESOLUTION OF THAT, UM, COUNCIL ITEM.
I THINK WE MAY NEED TO ALLOW MORE TIME FOR FOLLOW-UP, UH, TO SEE WHAT'S WHAT THE STATUS IS, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALSO ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT, UH, THE REQUESTS BEING INDEPENDENT.
SO I JUST LIKE TO KNOW, UM, THE ACTION THAT WAS TAKEN AND WHEN IT WAS TAKEN AS TO WHEN THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, IF YOU COULD SEND THAT OUT TO THE COMMISSION, PLEASE, I'M HAPPY TO SHARE THAT WITH THE COMMISSION
[02:10:02]
AND THE COMMISSION.I THINK I WAS JUST GONNA POINT OUT IN ADDITION TO WHAT KRISHA DASGUPTA SAID, THAT WE, WHAT WE HAD SUGGESTED WAS NOT TRYING TO GO BACK AND CATEGORIZE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED BACK IN THE RECORD, BUT JUST PROPOSE MOVING FORWARD.
AND I THINK WE HAD EVEN LOOKED AND SEEN SOME PRETTY SIMPLE OFF THE SHELF SOLUTIONS THAT WERE OUT THERE.
SO THIS DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S A HERCULEAN TASK.
IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE, AND OBVIOUSLY IT SHOULDN'T BE DONE.
AND THE, UH, THE CLERK'S OFFICE HAD TOLD US THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HANDLE THAT INTERNALLY AND THAT THEY HAD THE, UH, THE MANPOWER AND THE EXPERTISE, BUT THEN EVERYTHING HAPPENED.
AND IT'S BEEN SEVERAL YEARS NOW.
AND SO IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES.
AND SO THAT'S WHY I THINK THAT THIS COMMISSION SHOULD RECOMMEND A BUDGET ITEM WHERE YOU GO OUT AND BUY ONE OF THE PACKAGES THAT IS ALREADY BEING USED BY HOUSTON OR DALLAS OR SOMEBODY, RIGHT.
TO MY UNDERSTANDING, THAT'S WHERE WE STOOD.
UH, AND WE WERE WAITING FOR FEEDBACK FROM THE CLERK'S OFFICE ON EVALUATING THAT.
SO I THINK WE'RE BOTH, WE'RE BACK AT NEEDING TO CONFIRM WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE TWO INDEPENDENT REQUESTS WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE ONE THAT WE SUBMITTED AND THAT'S WITHIN OUR SCOPE TO DO AGAIN.
AND TO THEN ADD THE DETAILS TO YOU SUGGESTED WE CAN CONFIRM ABOUT COUNCIL IF THEY DIDN'T WANT TO.
SO JESSIE'S GOING TO FOLLOW UP WITH THAT AND THEN WE'LL TAKE IT FROM THERE.
AND TIRPITZ, I CAN SPEAK TO THAT.
SOME OF THE SPECIFICS, I JUST GOT THE DOCUMENT UP.
SO CITY COUNCIL PASSED THE INITIAL, UH, RESOLUTION ON FEBRUARY 7TH, 2019, THE RESOLUTION DIRECTED CITY MANAGER AND CITY CLERK'S OFFICE TO RESEARCH BEST PRACTICES FOR ELECTRONIC VOTE, RECORDING AND REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION BY MAY OF 2019.
UH, THE, THE THREE OPTIONS THAT I MENTIONED WERE THE OPTIONS THAT THE CLERK'S OFFICE GENERATED IN RESPONSE TO THAT COUNCIL RESOLUTION.
AND THEY SUBMITTED THAT BACK TO, UH, CITY COUNCIL ON, ON, YOU KNOW, THE APPROVED, UH, OR THE PROPOSED DATE OF MAY 28TH, 2019.
UM, AND AT THAT POINT IS WHERE, UH, THERE WAS THE GAP.
SO IT'S LIKE THE, THE ANSWER WAS MADE TO CITY COUNCIL AND, AND NO ACTION WAS TAKEN, UH, FOR A WHILE.
THEN, UH, THE, THE COMMISSION, UH, PROPOSED IN THE FY 21, 22 BUDGET, UH, TO A PORTION, ADDITIONAL FTES TO SUPPORT, UH, ANY WORK THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
UM, UH, THE APPROVAL OF THAT REQUEST WAS ON FIVE 12 OF 2021.
UH, SO I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S WHEN IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SENT, UH, INITIALLY TO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
UM, THE COMMUNICATION THAT I GOT BACK FROM THE CLERK'S OFFICE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, UH, SIGNED OFF ON ASSIGNING THIS TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AS OF JANUARY 10TH, 2022.
SO THAT'S A FORM, THAT'S THE FORMAL DATE THAT IT WAS ASSIGNED.
UM, AND I'M, UH, HAPPY TO SHARE, UH, THIS EMAIL AND THAT DOCUMENT WITH THE COMMISSION.
THAT'LL TAKE CARE OF IT, I THINK.
AND, UH, JUST TO REMIND EVERYONE, EVEN THOUGH THIS PROCESS CAN BE, UH, CAN SEEM LENGTHY OR TEDIOUS.
UM, WE HAVE HAD SUCCESS BEFORE WITH THESE REQUESTS.
UH, YOU KNOW, SO THIS IS KEEP THAT IN MIND, WE'VE GOT A PRETTY DECENT TRACK RECORD, UH, EVEN IF NOT IN THE IMMEDIATE YEAR AND, UH, PURSUING YEAR OVER YEAR RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, YOU KNOW, ONE EXAMPLE, KEY EXAMPLE OF THAT IS REMOTE PARTICIPATION, OBVIOUSLY IN ALL OF THE NECESSITY, I THINK CERTAINLY HELPED TO GET THAT IMPLEMENTED, UH, OUR LEADERSHIP IN THAT SPACE AND EVALUATING IT AS A RECOMMENDATION, I THINK HELPED TO SHOW THAT WE WERE READY FOR THAT.
UM, SAME WHEN IT COMES TO RECOMMENDING, UH, G TOPS, UH, FUNDING BE DOUBLED, RIGHT.
UH, SO I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE US ALL TO KEEP THAT IN MIND, UH, SPEAKING OF, OF G TOPS, SOME OF THE OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS, WHICH I LOOK TO HOPEFULLY, UH, HAVE MORE SPECIFICITY FROM TARA ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE PRUDENT IN LIGHT OF THE HIRING PLANS THAT WE HAVE FOR, UH, MARKETING
[02:15:01]
AND OTHER CONTRACT ROLES FOCUSED AROUND DETOX, UH, ARE TO RECOMMEND DEDICATED FUNDING FOR G TOPS MARKETING.UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SOMETHING WHICH WE TALKED ABOUT IN, UH, BOTH THE FOLLOWUP SESSIONS, MANAGING G TOPS AND TALKING ABOUT G TOPS AS A GROUP WITH THE REVIEW PANELISTS AND, UM, AND LEADERSHIP.
AND THEN ALSO, UH, FEEDBACK WE'VE GOTTEN FROM A VARIETY OF OTHER SOURCES OF THE NEED TO REACH OUT TO NEW OUTLETS AND CHANNELS, BOTH FOR, UH, APPLICANTS AND ALSO FOR VIEWERS AND TO, TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT G TOP.
SO REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT CONVERSATION UNFOLDING AND JUST WANTED TO PREPARE YOU ALL TO LOOK FOR THAT BECAUSE WE LOOK INTO IT TO GARNER SOME CONSENSUS AROUND THAT.
IF INDEED IT MAKES SENSE BASED ON WHO AND HOW THEY'RE HIRING ALONG THE SAME LINES, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE'VE AGREED AS A BODY TO SUPPORT FORMERLY, UH, THE GATHERING OF LIVED EXPERIENCES THROUGH TOWN HALLS, UM, OFFICIALLY TO DO AT LEAST TWO OR MORE PER YEAR, IF NOT, YOU KNOW, ONE, A QUARTER, I THINK WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, THAT'S EVOLVING TO THE POINT WHERE IT MIGHT MAKE SENSE FOR THAT TO HAVE SOME BUDGETARY RECOMMENDATION AS WELL.
ALTHOUGH WE'RE FORTUNATE TO HAVE A PARTNER IN LIBRARY THAT HAS BUDGET, UM, AND THAT'S NOTHING TO, UM, TO SPEAK LIGHTLY ABOUT.
IT'S VERY, VERY FORTUNATE OF US, BUT NEVERTHELESS, IT COULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO HELP OTHER PARTNERS THAT MIGHT HELP US WITH THAT EFFORT.
SO THAT'S ALSO FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE AN OPEN DISCUSSION ABOUT OTHER IDEAS.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY FEEDBACK OR THOUGHTS FOR BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, I'D LIKE TO PASS IT AROUND.
I SEE A COMMISSIONER, FLOYD'S GOT HIS HAND ON THE MIC IF THEY HAD ANYTHING FIRST, I APPRECIATE THAT, BUT I GOT YOU.
WELL, I BELIEVE YESTERDAY AT THE WORK GROUP, WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, UH, LOOKING MORE ALLOCATIONS FOR SHARED CONDUITS.
UM, AND THAT WAS A PRETTY LENGTHY AND COMPLICATED DISCUSSION, BUT I KNOW THAT THAT WAS SOMETHING WE RECOMMENDED 100.
WE DISCUSSED IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSION, HOW, AND THIS WILL COME UP LATER AS WE GET INTO THAT DISCUSSION, BUT WE TALKED ABOUT HOW OUR EVALUATION OF INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE MIGHT ALSO HELP TO SUGGEST THAT BUDGETARY ALLOTMENT MIGHT HELP.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE LOOKING TO HOPEFULLY ENCOURAGE LOCAL PARTNERS, UM, TO HELP WITH THAT EVALUATION.
IT MIGHT NECESSARILY INVOLVE REQUIREMENTS GATHERING.
IT WILL ALSO NECESSARILY INVOLVE INSIGHTS FROM AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY, EXCUSE ME, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION, AND THE ISDN GROUP, BUT FOOD FOR THOUGHT THAT THAT ALSO IS DOWN THE PIPE BECAUSE WHERE WE INVITED, UH, JASON, JOHN, MICHAEL, AND CHARLES PERMA TO COME IN AND TO MEET WITH US AT THE WORKING LEVEL TO HAVE SOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
SO THAT'S ALSO FOOD FOR THOUGHT, RIGHT? SO A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFICATION ON HOW WE WOULD WORD THIS BUDGET ITEM.
WOULD WE SAY, UM, UH, A CONSULTANT TO GIVE US SOME KIND OF A STUDY ON SHARED CONDUIT OR, UH, HAVE ALLOCATE RESOURCES WITHIN THE CITY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WHERE THERE WOULD BE ACTUAL FUNDING FOR PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THIS SO THAT WE MIGHT THINK OF ABOUT HOW WE WANT TO WORD THAT.
YEAH, NO, I THINK YOUR, YOUR POINT IS WELL TAKEN.
I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME EXAMPLES TO GO OFF OF IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, OUR BUDGETARY RECOMMENDATION AROUND REMOTE PARTICIPATION WAS VERY NUANCED, RIGHT? IT'S ONE THAT, THAT FACTORED IN THEIR NEEDS FOR FTE THAT FACTORED IN THE NEED FOR TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES.
SO I COULD ENVISION SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE FACTOR IN ALL THE DIFFERENT, AT LEAST AS MANY THAT WE CAN, UH, FORESEE, UH, CAVEATS THE RECOMMENDATION THAT WE WANT TO CONSIDER ADVISING CITY COUNCIL ON.
SO YEAH, THAT'S A VERY GOOD CALL OUT AND WE'VE GOT A MODEL FOR DOING THAT ALREADY.
SO, UM, ONE SECOND, YOU SHOULD ASK IT THAT, OH, IF, IF WE DISCUSS THIS IN THE MARCH MEETING ALSO WILL, WILL THAT STILL BE WITHIN TIME FOR THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT GREAT QUESTION.
SO, UH, AND THEN I'LL PASS TO COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA.
UH, SO MY ATTITUDE ABOUT IT IS WITH THE MARCH 22ND
[02:20:01]
DEADLINE, WE KNOW WE ONLY HAVE THE COMMISSION MEETING ON THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF MARCH.UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, THE WORKING GROUP MEETINGS NOW AND IN BETWEEN THEM, AND THEY'VE GOT ONE WORKING GROUP MEETING AFTERWARDS, RIGHT? SO THAT LEAVES BASICALLY THIS MEETING FOR GENERAL DISCUSSION.
UH, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD BE IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSIONS DISCUSSING, UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSING LANGUAGE.
UH, SO THAT WAY, BY THE TIME WE HAVE OUR NEXT MEETING, SECOND WEDNESDAY, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LITERALLY VOTING ON THEM.
I THINK THAT WORST CASE SCENARIO WE'D HAVE TO USE THE REMAINING WORKING GROUP MEETING TO DO SOME KIND OF BUSINESS, BUT THAT WOULD THEN PUT US IN A POSITION WHERE WE COULDN'T VOTE.
SO EVERYTHING HAS TO BE ON THE RECORD.
UH, SO ESSENTIALLY WE NEED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN BY THE 22ND.
SO ONE, UH, UH, TOPIC, WHICH WE SHOULD AT LEAST DISCUSS AMONGST US BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
UH, THE CITY HAS THIS, UH, PLAN TO DISTRIBUTE HARDWARE.
SHOULD WE BE REQUESTING THE COUNCIL TO ENLARGE THAT PROGRAM AS WELL AS YOU KNOW, THE LIBRARY HAS THIS LOANER PROGRAM FOR FOUR HUBS, UM, WIRELESS HUBS SHOULD BE RECOMMENDED.
THEY ENLARGE THAT PROGRAM AS WELL TO ENABLE BETTER CONNECTIVITY IN THOSE REGIONS OF THE CITY WHERE THERE'S A, THERE'S A, THERE'S A SHORTAGE.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE A FOLLOW-UP MEETING WITH LIBRARY ON THE PLANNING AROUND THE TOWN HALLS, UH, TOMORROW I BELIEVE, OR FRIDAY.
SO THAT'LL GIVE US AN OPPORTUNITY TO FOLLOW UP WITH THAT, UH, JUST TO MAKE SURE, UH, WE OBVIOUSLY, UH, ARE, UH, SUPPORTIVE OF THE FUNDING THAT THE LIBRARY HAS GONE AROUND THIS.
IN FACT, WE'VE DIRECTLY MAY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL HOTSPOTS FOR THEM IN THE PAST.
UM, IT WILL BE IMPORTANT THOUGH, TO LEVERAGE THE INSIGHTS, UH, FROM THOSE HOT SPOT, UH, PROGRAMS, UH, SO THEY CAN GIVE US SOME GUIDANCE ON WHAT THEY REALLY NEED.
UM, I JUST WANT TO SHARE THAT.
SO, BUT YEAH, I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED THAT BECAUSE IT'S CERTAINLY WITHIN THE SCOPE.
I WOULD BASICALLY, I PLAN ON ASKING THEM PERSONALLY, IF THERE'S ANYTHING THEY'D LIKE FOR US TO, TO ADD TO OUR LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO SUPPORT.
I THINK THAT THAT'S VERY GOOD.
SO MAYBE BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT YOU COLLECT FROM THIS, WE COULD DISCUSS THAT AT ART ECOLOGY WORKING GROUP INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP MEETING NEXT MONTH, SO THAT WE CAN FORMULATE THE RIGHT WORDING, THAT WE CAN BRING IT BACK TO THE COUNCIL OR TO THE, TO THE COMMISSION FOR A POSSIBLE VOTE SO THAT IT CAN BE INCLUDED IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL.
YEAH, THAT'S INDEED WHAT THE PLAN IS AT THIS POINT, RIGHT? SO AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'VE GOT TWO WORKING GROUP MEETINGS BETWEEN NOW AND THE COMMISSION MEETING.
SO WE'LL MEET WITH THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP, WHICH YOU AND COMMISSIONER FLOYD CO-CHAIR, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, STRATEGIC TECH TELECOMM AND POLICY IMPACT WORKING GROUP, UH, AS WELL AS AN OPPORTUNITY, UH, TO SHAPE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, AND YOU KNOW, ANY, AND ALL INPUT IS HELPFUL.
SO OBVIOUSLY WE'RE GOING TO ALL VOTE ON THEM.
UH, SO, UH, I PLAN ON PUTTING ANY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE READY TO GO IN FRONT OF ANY WORKING GROUP THAT THAT'S AVAILABLE TO LOOK AT THEM, SHOULD THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY BE INVITED TO GIVE THEIR INPUTS TO US? UH, COULD JESSE HELP US COLLECT THE INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC LIBRARY? AND, UH, SO AGAIN, TO JUST, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, UH, WE'RE MEETING LATER THIS WEEK, SO WE'VE ALREADY GOT A PLAN.
WE'VE ALREADY GOT A PLAN TO, TO GATHER THOSE INSIGHTS, BUT I APPRECIATE THE SUGGESTION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK? OKAY.
WITH THAT THEN, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
UH, AND BY THE WAY, IF ANYONE THINKS OF ANYTHING, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AND OR JESSE, AND THEN WE CAN TAKE THAT INTO DISCUSSION IN THE WORKING GROUPS.
AND WITH ENOUGH CONSENSUS, WE CAN DISCUSS THAT AGAIN, UH, AT THE NEXT MEETING, OR IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA THAT COMES UP AT THE NEXT MEETING, FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT THEN AS WELL.
SO WE HAD, UH, DISCUSSED, UH, ASKING THE LIBRARY TO BUY ZOOM LICENSES FOR, UM, UH, COMMUNITY GROUPS TO ACCESS FOR CIVIC
[02:25:01]
ACTIVITIES.UM, WE COULD, UH, ADD THAT, RIGHT.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND MAKE A NOTE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT WITH THE LIBRARY.
AND THERE WAS A NOTE IN THE BEADING NOTES FROM LAST MONTH THAT SAID THAT YOU HAD TALKED TO THE LIBRARY, BUT I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE.
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WELL, NO, NO, THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME, WE DID SPEAK.
AND THAT'S WHERE THE LEARNINGS ABOUT, UH, LEVERAGING THE LICENSES COMES IN.
UH, W WHAT WAS CLEAR IS THAT WE NEED TO ENGAGE IN, UH, AN OUTREACH CAMPAIGN ABOUT THESE RESOURCES, UH, BECAUSE IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THERE WAS SOME UNCERTAINTY WHY THEY WEREN'T BEING USED, BUT THEY WEREN'T REALLY BEING USED WELL, AS I UNDERSTOOD IT, THE ZOO LICENSES WERE KIND OF CHAINED TO THE RESERVATION FOR A ROOF.
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU COULDN'T USE THE ZOOM LICENSE UNLESS YOU HAD THE ROOM AT THE LIBRARY, THE MEETING ROOM AT THE LIBRARY RESERVED.
SO WE NEED TO SEPARATE THOSE SO THAT PEOPLE LIKE CIVIC GROUPS, CAN'T JUST HAVE MEETING ZOOM MEETINGS ONLINE WITHOUT GOING TO THE LIBRARY.
IN FACT, UH, THE LENDING PROGRAM, I THINK AN AUGMENTATION AND ADAPTION OF THE ADAPTATION OF THE LENDING PROGRAM WAS ONE THING THAT I THINK CAN HELP TO ACCOMMODATE THAT.
SO IF WE COULD, UH, JESSE, I'D LIKE TO, I MADE NOTES MYSELF TO FOLLOW UP WITH THIS, BUT COULD YOU ALSO HELP ME, UH, REMIND ME TO FOLLOW UP SINCE WE KNOW, UH, I DO RECALL THIS WAS BEING ADDRESSED BY EMMY AND ONE OF OUR DISCUSSIONS AND, UH, AS A POINT OF FOLLOW-UP, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THIS COVERED AGAIN.
UH, ANY OTHER FEEDBACK OR THOUGHTS FOR PROCEED? OKAY.
THEN MOVING ALONG WITH OUR AGENDA
[4.a. Digital Inclusion, Civic Engagement, and Strategic Technology and Telecom Policy Working Group]
NOW TO COMMISSION UPDATES, UH, BEGINNING WITH FORAY, THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, AND STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOM POLICY WORKING GROUP.I PROVIDED A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPDATE ALREADY, UH, AND DISCUSSING, UH, THE TOWN HALLS AND POTENTIAL PURSUIT OF, UH, FUNDS TO HELP.
UH, BUT AGAIN, JUST EXCITED THAT THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAVE EVOLVING, UH, BEEN EVOLVING, UH, AS WE'VE DISCUSSED EARLIER WITH THE PRESENTATION FROM CHILDREN'S OPTIMAL HEALTH, UH, LIVED EXPERIENCE IS CRITICAL.
AND, UH, WE'VE OBVIOUSLY ARE FOCUSED ON THAT AS A COMMISSION, UH, WITH OUR FOCUS ON THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT COMMUNITY VOICE AND ALSO TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY CONCERNS.
UH, SO REALLY EXCITED ABOUT ALL THOSE, UH, ALL THOSE CONVERSATIONS EVOLVING AND TO INCLUDE OTHER COMMISSIONS AS WELL, UH, WAS PLEASED TO VISIT WITH THE LIBRARY COMMISSION ALONG WITH COTON HARMON, UH, AND TO CONFIRM THEIR SUPPORT FOR THIS EFFORT.
UM, AND FOR, UH, THAT TO ESSENTIALLY RESULTS IN A, IN A KIND OF A MULTIPLICATION EFFECT, AS WE CONSIDER OTHER PARTNERSHIPS THAT ARE QUITE NATURAL AND ORGANIC, LIKE THE EARLY CHILDHOOD COMMISSION, FOR ONE EXAMPLE, AS WE LOOK AT CO-LOCATION OF SERVICES AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN GET WHAT THEY NEED FOR DIGITAL SERVICE DELIVERY, UM, IN ADDITION TO THE LIBRARY COMMISSION AND OTHERS.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE ANYONE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IDEAS AND WAYS THAT WE CAN, CAN, UH, GET DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE COMMUNITY, THROUGH DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE YOUR FEEDBACK FOR THAT.
UH, WE ACTUALLY MEET ON A BI-WEEKLY BASIS, UH, AS A GREATER COMMUNITY, UH, WITH THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN AND, UH, COMMISSIONER APODACA, UH, VICE CHAIR WAS THERE TODAY.
PLEASE SEE THEM THERE AS WELL AS SEVERAL OTHERS FROM THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, UH, TODAY WE FOCUSED ON A MIRO BOARD, UH, WHICH IS DESIGNED TO HELP TO START TO ORGANIZE, UH, OUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE COMMUNITY NEEDS OF ALL IN TERMS OF ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS, UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION NEEDS FOR A SPECIFIC MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, AT A FUTURE MEETING, I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT ON THAT AND OR TO ACTUALLY INVITE, UH, THE CREATOR OF THAT AND FROM MISSION CAPITAL TO COME AND TO HELP SHARE MORE INSIGHTS FROM THAT.
BUT IT'S A GREAT WAY FOR US TO START TO AGGREGATE INSIGHTS GAINED FROM OUR NONPROFIT COMMUNITY, GAINED FROM, UH, OUR CLIENTS AND THE CONSTITUENTS AND THE CITIZENS IMPACTED BY DIGITAL
[02:30:01]
INCLUSION, UM, THAT WE'RE TRYING TO AID WITH DIGITAL EQUITY EFFORTS, AND THEN TO HELP STRATEGICALLY ALIGN, UH, DIFFERENT NEEDS FOR, FOR EXECUTION AND TO BE MET, WHETHER IT'S AROUND FUNDING, UH, WITH FUNDING GOALS, OR IF IT'S AROUND DEVICE AND DEVICE NEEDS ORGANIZATIONALLY OR TRAINING, UH, AMONGST OTHER AREAS.SO, UH, PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT IN THE FUTURE.
AND AS YOU ALL KNOW, OF COURSE, WE JUST SELECTED OUR RE UH, REVIEW PANEL TODAY FOR G TOPS.
SO ONCE MORE, UH, WITH THE, THE WORKER VOLUNTEERS IN THE COMMUNITY, SUPPORTING THE EFFORTS OF G TOPS, IT WILL INDEED CONTINUE ANY DISCUSSION OR QUESTIONS FOR THIS WORKING GROUP.
[4.b. Knowledge, Information, and Data Stewardship Working Group]
ONE FOR SENIOR AGENDA, SHE DID AN ITEM TO BE THE KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION, AND DATA STEWARDSHIP WORKING GROUP, WHICH IS CHAIRED BY COMMISSIONER DAVID FLOYD.UM, WE DID THIS A WHILE BACK, UH, RIGHT AFTER THE LAST MEETING, MY NOTES AREN'T HERE.
SO I'M GOING OFF MEMORY A LITTLE BIT, BUT IT'S, UH, WE BASICALLY, WE GOT COMMISSIONER APODACA AND, UH, CAUSE RACIALLY RESTARTING AFTER THE LAST CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE LEFT AND WE'RE KIND OF REBOOTING IT.
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF INTRODUCTION TALK AND PLANS WHERE THINGS WE WANT TO BE DOING.
UM, BUT WE DID TALK ABOUT VOTE TABULATION, WHICH WE'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT TONIGHT.
UM, WE TALKED ABOUT THE, UH, WE JUST LIKE WITH THE, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE GROUP, WE'VE BEEN TALKING A LOT ABOUT THE AUTONOMY INSTITUTE, ALTHOUGH THE WAY THE LENS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, WORKING WITH THEM OR ANYTHING THAT THEY MIGHT DO, UM, OR A GROUP WITH LIKE THEM MIGHT DO WITH AUSTIN IS MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT KIND OF DATA IS GOING TO BE COLLECTED.
HOW'S IT GOING TO BE USED? WHAT ARE THE, UM, THE IMPACTS ON THE CITY AND THE CITIZENS WHEN YOU COLLECT THIS KIND OF DATA AND WE'LL ALSO WILL SERVICES BE EQUITY DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE CITY.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT WE STARTED IN THAT GROUP.
WE'RE GOING TO KEEP WORKING ON.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE'VE YESTERDAY WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE AUTONOMY INSTITUTE AND, UH, RE POSSIBLE RESOLUTION, UM, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THE KID GROUP IS GOING TO NEED TO LOOK AT AS WELL, NOT FROM THE SORT OF THE MECHANICS OF SHARED CONDUITS IN PUTTING THESE PIN UNITS IN, BUT LIKE RE LIKE I JUST SAID, THE, THE IMPLICATIONS OF HAVING THE SYSTEM AND ALSO MAKING SURE THAT THE SYSTEM IS DISTRIBUTED FAIRLY ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, I BELIEVE WE ALSO TALKED A LITTLE BIT WITH COMMISSIONER APODACA ABOUT SOME OF THE STUFF, UH, THE, UH, APD DATA, UM, SOME OF THE ISSUES WE DISCUSSED A LONG TIME AGO WITH, UM, THEIR APP AND THEN SOME OF THE DATA BACKLOGS AND WAYS THAT WE COULD, UM, WORK ON THAT DOWN THE ROAD, GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, SEE, UM, HOW THE DATA IS BEING HANDLED WITH THE APP.
UM, AND THEN JUST MAKING SURE THAT PROGRESS IS BEING MADE ON, UM, DATA SHARING, UM, WITH THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE.
IS THERE ANYTHING THAT I'M FORGETTING OR IS IT, UH, NO, I THINK THAT COVERS QUITE A BIT.
UM, I THINK NOW I'D LIKE TO ASK MICHELLE IF DOC, IF YOU CAN THINK OF ANYTHING THAT WE DIDN'T, UH, MENTION THAT WAS DISCUSSED IN THE WORKING GROUP SESSION, I THINK RELATED TO YOUR LAST POINT, WE HAD DISCUSSED POSSIBLY INTERFACING WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION ON THE APP.
UM, AND THAT, I THINK BEG FOR A LITTLE BIT OF A FOLLOW-UP DID WE, BEFORE WE, UH, FORMALLY ENGAGE, UH, DO WE EVER GET ANY FOLLOWUP FROM THE PIO ABOUT THE APD ONE APP? NO, WE HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANYTHING.
I HAVEN'T RECENTLY REACHED OUT AGAIN.
I KNOW THAT THE PIO THAT WE SPOKE OR I BELIEVE THAT THE PIO THAT WE SPOKE WITH HAS MOVED ON TO A DIFFERENT POSITION.
UH, SO THAT COULD BE AN, YOU KNOW, ONE REASON THAT WE NEVER HEARD BACK.
I THINK IT'S TIME FOR US TO REENGAGE OR TO FIND A NEW CONTACT WITH APD, PERHAPS.
THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMISSIONER OF THE DACA WATCHED HERE.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY, UH, FEEDBACK OR QUESTIONS FOR THIS WORKING GROUP? OKAY.
THANK YOU FOR THAT UPTAKE, UH, COMMISSIONER FLOYD, AND WE'LL PROCEED WITH THE AGENDA THEN TO, TO SEE
[4.c. Technology, Infrastructure, and Innovation Working Group]
THE TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP.AND I GUESS I'LL GO AHEAD AND ENGAGE COMMISSIONER DASGUPTA THE CHAIR OF THAT WORKING GROUP AS WELL.
WELL, AS YOU KNOW, I WAS IN OSHO BECAUSE I WAS A GARDENER IN A PARKING LOT WITH A BROKEN CAR.
I MISSED THE MEETING, SO I'M GOING TO TURN THE MIC OVER TO MY CO-CHAIR WHERE'S THE FLOYD.
I COMBINED COMMISSIONER EATS HIS NOTES WITH SOME OF MINE.
[02:35:01]
SO WE, WE TALKED ABOUT BROADBAND, UM, AND, UH, GENERALLY THE WHOLE TEXAS BROADBAND OFFICE AND, UM, SOME OF THE ISSUES RELATED TO GETTING THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THE FEDERAL FUNDING THAT'S OUT THERE FROM THE FEC TO HELP EXPAND SERVICE TO UNDERSERVED AREAS.I THINK WE TALKED TO SOME OF THE STUFF WE TALKED ABOUT WAS, UM, HOW THE TEXAS OFFICE IS FOCUSED A LOT ON THE RURAL, UM, BROADBAND EXTENSION.
AND WE NEED TO GET IT INTO UNDERSERVED URBAN AREAS.
UH, TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW, UH, THE COUNTY, THE URBAN COUNTIES AND THE CITIES ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO TRY TO APPROACH THE BROADBAND OFFICE OR THE TEXAS ROBYN OFFICE.
AND, UH, AS, AS A, AS A UNIT, UM, SORT OF THE ONGOING PROCESSES THERE.
UH, AND AS AN EXTENSION OF THAT, I THINK TARA AND TRAVIS COUNTY ARE WORKING TOGETHER TO DO A SURVEY ABOUT THE DIFFERENT, UH, COMMUNICATIONS ASSETS THAT WE HAVE AS WELL AS COMMUNICATION CONNECTIVITY.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THOSE ONGOING EFFORTS IN THE PAST, LIKE THE SPEED OF AMERICA TO FIGURE OUT HOW CONNECTIVITY IS AVAILABLE IN AUSTIN.
UH, WE DISCUSSED, UH, AUTONOMY INSTITUTE A LOT, UM, DEPENDS ON INTELLIGENT ARCHITECTURE THAT WENT BACK TO SORT OF THE, UH, LET'S SEE, EDITING THE RESOLUTION TEMPLATE THAT, UM, FOR THESE, FOR THE PINS AND SOME OF THE THINGS THE AUTONOMY IS ONCE, UM, SORT OF LOOKING AT THAT RESOLUTION TEMPLATE AND SEEING IF THAT'S APPROPRIATE TO SEND UP TO COUNCIL, UM, ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CITY ABOUT THESE ISSUES.
AND, UM, LET'S SEE, AS, AS OUR FAVORITE TOPIC AND ONE OF OUR FAVORITE TOPICS SHARED CONDUITS WE DISCUSSED AND HOW THE PINS FIT IN WITH OUR WHOLE OVERALL SCHEME OF SHARED CONDUITS AND THAT SHARED INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE, UM, TALKS ABOUT SOME OF THE BUDGET ISSUES THAT WE JUST DISCUSSED.
AND THEN, UM, WE HAD A LONG, WE HAD A CHAT ABOUT RESILIENCY HUBS THAT THE CITY IS WORKING ON, AND THESE ARE, UM, WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
UH, THEY ARE BASICALLY HUBS IN LIGHT OF THE TROPICAL OR BEING THE WINTER STORM OF ERIE LAST YEAR.
AND THE ONGOING ISSUES THAT WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT WITH A DISASTER OF SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, BUILDING OUT THESE HUBS THROUGHOUT THE CITY WHERE EMERGENCY RESOURCES CAN BE CONCENTRATED IN SOME OF THOSE INCLUDE, UM, TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESOURCES FOR WORKING WITH FIRST RESPONDERS.
AND THEN WE ALSO TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT GATTON.
I KNOW WE WANT TO REVIEW THOSE TO, UH, KIND OF GET AN IDEA ABOUT GATTON, UM, HOW THEY DEAL WITH SHARED ARE SHARED, UM, CONDUITS IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND HOW THAT MIGHT BE APPLIED TO SOME OF THE STUFF THE AUTONOMY INSTITUTE WANTS TO DO.
THAT'S JUST GOING THROUGH THE NOTES THAT I HAVE HERE, BUT THAT'S, THOSE WERE OUR MAJOR TOPICS YESTERDAY, RIGHT? I JUST WANTED TO ADD A LITTLE BIT, UM, TONIGHT WE HEARD, UH, IN THIS PRESENTATION ABOUT THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'VE GONE INTO EXTENSIVE DETAIL ALREADY ABOUT AREAS WHERE THERE IS THEY'RE UNDERSERVED AREAS FOR BROADBAND COVERAGE, WHICH IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR FOR A LONG TIME.
SO REALLY WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, THIS, UH, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY.
I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE.
I THINK WE'VE GOT A CHALLENGE OF, UH, AS WAS DESCRIBED EARLIER OF WANTING MORE, RIGHT.
WE WERE PROBABLY CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH DATA.
UM, BUT THIS DATA IS AS INFORMING AS IT IS AND INSIGHTFUL AS IT IS.
IT IS, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF YEARS OLD.
HERE, HERE I COMMISSIONED, I SCOOPED HIM.
YOU KNOW, THE ACS SURVEY IS DONE BY THE SAME PEOPLE.
IT COMES FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU.
AND, UH, SO WE MAY REQUEST AN UPDATE BASED ON THE 2020 CENSUS, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET A UPDATED VERSION OF IT.
SO THAT'S A REASONABLE REQUEST.
UH, WE ACTUALLY HAVE, IN FACT, DURING THE PRESENTATION YESTERDAY AS WELL, NOT MISTAKEN, UH, WE DISCUSSED THE DEMOGRAPHER AND ACTUALLY HAVING THEM PRESENT AT THE WORKING LEVEL, UH, OR, AND, AND SHARING SOME INSIGHTS.
SO, UH, EVEN IF NOT AT THE COMMISSION LEVEL.
SO I THINK THAT WILL BE A VERY LOGICAL NEXT STEP.
UH, I BELIEVE WE HAD A QUESTION TONIGHT DURING, AFTER THAT PRESENTATION ABOUT, WELL, ALL THIS INFORMATION COMES FROM
[02:40:01]
2019.WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO UPDATE IT? AND I BELIEVE THE ANSWER WAS THAT JUST IN THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS, THERE WAS SOME KIND OF A NOTICE THAT, UM THE, UH, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY FOR 2020 HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED.
SO MAYBE WE NEED TO, UH, UM, UH, FOLLOW UP WITH THE PRESENTER AND SEE IF WE CAN GET THAT INFORMATION.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, TOMORROW, RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, SHE STILL IS SEVEN, EIGHT HOURS A NIGHT, RIGHT? WELL, WE HAVE THEIR AUDIENCE TOMORROW, SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO, AND ACTUALLY IT MAY BE WORTHWHILE.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S POSSIBLE, BUT WORTHWHILE REACHING OUT TO THE DEMOGRAPHER TO SEE IF THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO JOIN A WORKING GROUP MEETING TOMORROW, SHORT NOTICE, BUT WORTH A SHOT.
ANY OTHER FEEDBACK OR QUESTIONS FOR THIS WORKING GROUP? OKAY.
WELL THEN THAT BRINGS US TO A FUTURE
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
AGENDA ITEMS. AND, UM, FRANKLY I THINK OUR NEXT MEETING IS GOING TO BE PRETTY ROBUST, UM, WITH AGENDA ITEMS, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PRESENTATION BY OUR CIO.UM, THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S PRETTY SET FOR MARCH, ALTHOUGH, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS EITHER GOING TO BE FEBRUARY OR MARCH.
SO WE'LL RECONFIRM WITH CHRIS STEWART, BUT THAT'S ON THE BOOKS I PRESENTATION BY AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY.
I THINK IT'S SOMETHING WE COULD ALSO PURSUE.
UM, AND THE TIMING WOULD BE PERFECT.
I THINK IN LIGHT OF A MARCH IN ADVANCING MORE OF THE GOALS RELATED TO THE TOWN HALLS, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING BUDGET, RIGHT.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT OF BUDGET THINGS TO GO OVER.
SO I THINK WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO FOCUS ON AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED FOR FUTURE FOR OUR NEXT AGENDA.
ANY OTHER FEEDBACK ABOUT THAT? THOUGHTS, JESSE? UH, JUST TWO OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY, THE COMMISSION MAY CONSIDER FOR THE AGENDA.
AND I KNOW THAT IS, UH, A HEFTY, UH, AGENDA ALREADY, BUT, UM, AUSTIN FREENET IS LIKELY TO REACH OUT FOR A PRESENTATION, UM, AND THERE IS LIKELY TO BE A BUDGET COMPONENT TO THAT.
UH, SO IT WOULD BE TIMELY, UM, MEASURE AUSTIN IS ALSO, UH, LIKELY TO BE READY TO PRESENT ON THEIR FOCUS GROUP OF LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND SO, UH, IF, IF THERE'S TIME, IF THE COMMISSION IS INTERESTED THAT I THINK THAT THEY WOULD BE READY IF WE WANTED TO POSTPONE THAT.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, ALL RIGHT.
WELL, IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THOUGH, ESPECIALLY, UH, THE AUSTIN FREENET ONE WITH OUR PARTNERSHIP AND THEIR SERVICE DELIVERY CAPABILITIES.
UH, SO I SAFE TO SAY THAT'S GOING TO MAKE IT ON AND WE'LL HAVE TO TRY TO FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT WORK.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON NICE ONE COMMENT, UH, WITH REGARDS TO, UM, GETTING MORE INFORMATION FROM THE ACS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S A HUGE DATASET, SO IT MIGHT BE, UM, PRUDENT FOR US TO, IF WE WANT SOMEONE TO GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION FOR US TO GIVE THEM ACTUALLY WHAT WE WANT THEM TO LOOK FOR, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S HUGE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IF WE WANT THEM TO LOOK FOR THINGS SPECIFIC.
UM, MAYBE EITHER COMPARING DATA POINTS WITH WHAT WE SAW IN THIS PRESENTATION, OR IF IT'S SOMETHING ELSE IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT.
NO, I THINK IT'S A BRILLIANT SUGGESTION.
UH, IN FACT, MY ONLY REGRET IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE MORE TIME BETWEEN THEM, YOU KNOW, INTERACTING TOMORROW.
UM, BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, WHY DON'T WE ALL JUST TAKE IT ON AS A TASK TO, UM, MAYBE WE SHOULD DO IS PROVIDE, MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE AN AGGREGATE LIST, UM, RIGHT.
A GOOGLE DOC THAT WE CAN WORK UP THAT WE'VE GOT DIFFERENT DATA SET IDEAS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST AND THEN KEEP A RUNNING LIST.
RIGHT? WELL, ONE OF THE, UH, THEIR INNER, UH, INTERACTIVE MAPS WAS, UH, UH, HOUSEHOLDS WITH NO INTERNET ACCESS.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THEY GET ANY MORE FINE DETAIL THAN THAT.
WHAT WE WOULD REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS LIKE, WHAT, WHAT IS THE SPEED OF YOUR INTERNET? I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT OR NOT, BUT THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING.
[02:45:01]
MENTIONED THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, AND THE OVERLAY WITH, UH, IT WAS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, BUT NO SUBSCRIPTION, YOU KNOW THAT TO ME, JUST REEKS OF NO DATA PLAN, RIGHT? IF, IF THEY'RE, ESPECIALLY IF THEY'RE USING A SMARTPHONE, RIGHT.IN FACT, UH, YOU KNOW, IN ONE OF THE SLIDES IN HER REPORT, SHE SAID A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT IS A HUNDRED MEGABITS, DOWNLOAD 10 MEGABITS UPLOAD.
THERE ARE SECTIONS IN THE CITY WHERE THAT IS A DREAM FOR TOMORROW.
THEY'RE CLOSER TO 50 OR 25 MEGABITS DOWNLOAD SPEED.
SO WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO IN SOME REGIONS OF THE CITY YOU'RE HERE.
ALL RIGHT, WELL, WE'LL GET THERE AND JUST GOT TO KEEP ON PUSHING.
BUT WITH THAT, THEN I GUESS THAT COMPLETES OUR WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION, EXCUSE ME, OUR A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM DISCUSSION.
AND IT BRINGS US TO THE FINAL ITEM ON OUR AGENDA.
I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN.
AND, UH, THAT BEING SAID, THEN ALL IN FAVOR OF GERMAN, PLEASE SAY, AYE, ANYONE OPPOSED? ALRIGHT, ANYONE IS STAINING? NO.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYBODY APPRECIATE IT.
THANKS FOR JOINING US ONLINE, EVERYBODY AND EVERYONE HERE, ESPECIALLY FOR BEING IN PERSON TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.